


We Raise Ourselves From the Ashes

by Aulophobia



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (minor) - Freeform, 1980s, Abusive Dursley Family (Harry Potter), Abusive Lucius Malfoy, Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Alternate Sectumsempra Scene | Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter's Duel in the Bathroom, Draco Malfoy Raises Himself, Evil Voldemort (Harry Potter), Good Parent Narcissa Black Malfoy, Good Tom Riddle, Harry Potter Raises Himself, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, M/M, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-24 20:22:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30077829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aulophobia/pseuds/Aulophobia
Summary: Draco Malfoy is up to something and Harry Potter needs to find out.  Except when  he finds Draco in the Bathroom he notices how broken the other boy looks and offers to help him.  Somehow by doing this the two boys end up in the past and decide to change things a little.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter/Tom Riddle, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 8
Kudos: 112





	1. Obsession Ends and Begins in the Bathroom

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been working on this in the background for more than 6 months now. I'm very close to being finished with writing it (I have about two chapters that need bulking out), so I'm hopeful that I can get this whole thing uploaded over the next month or so as I go through and edit. As usual I have no beta, and all spelling and grammar mistakes are my own.

Harry was in the Gryffindor common room watching the dot marked Draco Malfoy. Hermione and Ron were giving him odd looks. They had taken to doing this whenever they saw Harry partaking in what they had deemed his ‘obsession’ with Malfoy. He saw the dot move up from the dungeons. He traced it with his finger. It stopped in the second-floor girls’ bathroom. The one where moaning Myrtle frequented, and where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets lay hidden. Harry couldn’t for the life of him work out what the blonde Slytherin was doing in there. He knew he’d let his curiosity get the better of him before, the chamber or secrets and the philosophers stone being prime examples, both of which had resulted in trips to the hospital wing for himself. But if he hadn’t Voldemort would have gotten the stone. Ginny would have died. Besides, he had to know. He just had to find out. Discovering what Draco Malfoy was up to had ingrained itself into him like a parasite and it wasn’t letting him go anytime soon. He grabbed up his school bag and quickly made some excuses about needing a book from the library and exited through the portrait hole. He was fairly certain neither Ron nor Hermione believed his feeble excuse in the slightest. He threw on his invisibility cloak on as soon as he was round the first corner. He didn’t want to be followed by his friends, who would no doubt be plotting another intervention over his ‘obsession’. He moved as fast as he could through the corridors. When he reached the bathroom, he paused for a minute outside to catch his breath and check the map again. He was pleased to find that Malfoy hadn’t moved. Harry walked in quietly, still under his cloak. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t this. Malfoy was stood by the sink. It was obvious that he was crying. The once handsome boy was emaciated, and deep purple bruises were sunk beneath his eyes with lack of sleep. Harry felt something stir in him. He’d come here to catch Malfoy. To prove he was up to something. Looking at the wretched state his blond rival was in he realised he didn’t want to do that anymore. He wanted to help the other boy. He took off the cloak and shoved it into his bag before he spoke.

“Malfoy…”

There was no response. Harry wasn’t sure whether he’d been heard. He tried again.

“Malfoy…”

Again, nothing.

“Draco…”

The use of his first name seemed to have been able to drag the other boy from his state of introspective despair. Malfoy turned. He turned to face Harry with his wand up and pointed at him. His hand was visibly shaking. Harry just waited. Deliberately not making a move towards his own wand.

“Draco… I want to help…” Harry pleaded. He had to get through to Malfoy somehow. He didn’t know how he knew he had to do this; he just did. Something deep inside him was telling him that it was important.

“You can’t help me… No one can help me…” Malfoy sobbed. “Just go away and leave me alone.”

“Let me help you. We can go to Dumbledore…”

“No!” Malfoy snapped.

“But…”

“I’m not going to that old man. He can’t protect me. He’s a useless manipulative fool.”

Harry had to agree with Draco a little on that point. He’d seen the way Dumbledore had treated eleven-year-old Riddle in the pensive. He knew it was Dumbledore that left him on the Dursley’s doorstep when he was one year old. It was Dumbledore that sent him back their every year. Hell, it was Dumbledore that sent Hagrid, rather than a proper teacher, to show him the wizarding world for the first time. Being muggle raised, he should have at least been given the courtesy of someone who would actually explain things properly, like all of the muggleborn students got. Instead he got Hagrid, who, however nice, had not done much other than show him off to a bunch of people in the pub, warn him against Slytherin house, and left him alone so he could go get a drink. He had brought Harry Hedwig, his very first birthday present, and Harry loved the owl, but it would have been more useful to him to have a proper introduction to everything wizard related rather than a pet. There were many more things, but it was the way that Sirius had been treated that really put the final nail in the coffin of Harry’s trust of the Headmaster. Not only had he never pushed to get Sirius an actual trial, which his godfather had never had, but he kept vital information from Harry last year. He had left Harry unprepared for the trick Voldemort had played and Harry had walked into the trap, resulting in Sirius’ death. No. The Headmaster wasn’t a good choice. It was just automatic at this point for Harry to suggest him. He thought he’d learnt his lesson about acting before thinking, but if he was still suggesting the headmaster, clearly he had more work to do on that front. Besides, even if he still trusted the headmaster, he knew that Malfoy wouldn’t. His family had always been scathing of Dumbledore and the way he ran the school.

“Okay. Not the Headmaster. You’re right. We can’t trust him.” Harry said. He felt like he was talking down someone from the edge of jumping off a cliff. 

Malfoy gave a small laugh, but his wand remained pointing at Harry. “Never thought I’d hear the day you’d say I’m right.”

“Don’t get used to it.” Harry grinned. “You going to put your wand down? I really don’t fancy getting hexed and I’m not going to fight you. I meant it when I said I wanted to help.”

“I don’t see how you can.” Malfoy looked so desperate.

“Neither do I. But maybe two heads are better than one. You clearly don’t want to do whatever it is that has been slowly killing you over the last year. And don’t try to deny it, you look like shit. Maybe I can think of a way out of it that you wouldn’t have thought of.”

“He has my mother though.” Malfoy whispered, eyes closing at the admission of helplessness, but he lowered his wand.

“Shit.”

“If I don’t do what he wants, he’ll kill her.” 

Harry’s mind resonated in sympathy. If it were his mother in that situation, if she were still alive, he was sure he’d be half killing himself trying to save her too. Even if it meant doing something that he would never do under any other circumstances.

“Can you tell me what he’s asked you to do?” Harry asked, gently. Malfoy still looked a bit like a rabbit about to bolt. Wide eyed with panic.

“No…” Everything about that small word seemed to conflict with the aura Malfoy was portraying. He seemed to want the help Harry was offering. Then Malfoy continued barely above a whisper, and Harry had to hold himself back from sighing in relief. “Someone might overhear.”

It was said so quietly. With such fear. But it confirmed what Harry suspected. That Draco not only needed help, but that he was at least slightly willing to accept it. However strange it was for Draco Malfoy to be willing to accept help from Harry Potter.

“Let’s go somewhere more private then…. Room of requirement? I know you’ve been using it. We can make sure no one can come in or hear us in there.”

Malfoy paused for a long moment, still looking uncertain. Then he met Harry’s eyes. Harry wished he knew legilimency at that moment. So he could send Malfoy the message that he could be trusted. That Malfoy could trust him. He tried to covey the thoughts anyway. Whatever Malfoy saw, it was clearly enough however, as he eventually murmured out an “Okay.” 

“I’m going to get something out of my bag Malfoy. It’s not my wand. And it’s not a way to communicate with anyone else. So please don’t hex me. It will help us get to the room without being seen.”

Harry slowly pulled out his invisibility cloak back out of his bag; taking care over every movement and ensuring the other boy could see exactly what he was doing. He didn’t want Malfoy to spook, and he knew that this tentative truce they’d come to was fragile.

“You’ll need to come over here. We should both just about fit under this. You might need to bend your knees a little.”

Malfoy looked at Harry dubiously. “So your feet aren’t seen.” Harry clarified. “It’s an invisibility cloak. It belonged to my Dad.” 

Malfoy stared at him open mouthed. 

“Third year… The shrieking shack.” It wasn’t what Harry had expected Malfoy to say. The memory it brought up had Harry grinning like an idiot though.

“Yup.” Harry chortled. “Now come on. Let’s get to the room. At the very least talking about it might give you an idea as to how to complete your mission.”

“How can you say that?”

“Because if I were in your shoes, and it was the only way to save my Mother, I wouldn’t give a damn what awful thing I had to do. I would do it a thousand times over to save her.”

Malfoy was staring again. As if contemplating whether Harry really meant it. 

“How do you know my mission isn’t to kill you and this is all just a ploy to get you somewhere private to do it?”

The words were said with challenge in the blonde’s voice. Harry had spent enough time studying Malfoy over the last 6 years to know that. He didn’t think that Malfoy’s mission was to kill him though. He knew that Voldemort would never send another to kill him. Maybe to capture him, but he didn’t think that was what Malfoy’s task was either. And even if it were, he was clearly failing miserably at it, and would have no way of getting him out of the castle and to wherever Voldemort was.

“Because you stood there with your wand pointed at me with me making no move to arm myself and didn’t fire a single spell. Because I’m the one who’s suggested the place to go. So it’s clearly not something you’ve got prearranged in the room to kill me or take me away from the castle – especially given that I’m going to be the one to ask the room to create us a space to talk.”

Malfoy studied him for several long moments before eventually coming to a conclusion and sighing. “Fine.” The blonde boy said, and Harry felt relief flood through him. 

Malfoy slowly walked towards Harry, as if still not quite trusting what was happening. Harry didn’t blame him in the slightest. 

“We’re going to have to get pretty close. Put your arms around me.”

Malfoy did as he was told. It felt strangely nice to have the other boy close like this. Harry ignored that thought. It was not a useful thought to be having right now. He swung the invisibility cloak around the two of them. Despite having to make it up five floors, it didn’t take them too long to get to the room of requirement. The castle was clearly in a good mood with the two of them, and the stairs were surprisingly cooperative. Harry quickly had the door open and the two of them inside. The room was relatively small and cozy, a little bit like the Gryffindor common room, but without the garish red and gold colour scheme. Instead it was a calming mix of blues, greys, and silvers. Harry sat down on the sofa in front of the fire and pulled Malfoy down next to him. He wasn’t sure of the best way to approach this conversation now they were alone. In the bathroom, talking had been like walking along the edge of a knife. Now the adrenaline of that situation had worn off it was much more awkward. He stared at Malfoy in silence for several minutes. The boy was looking down at his hands and tugging at his fingers and picking at the cuticles, clearly anxious. His wrists looked like they would snap, they were so thin. Seeing this renewed Harry’s conviction about helping and pushed him into talking.

“Draco…” Harry used the boy’s first name, knowing that it had worked before to get him to listen. “I know talking to me about this is going to be hard and scary. And I might not even be able to help… But I want to… I don’t want you to lose your mother… I know I got your father arrested…”

“He deserves to rot in that place.” Malfoy retorted with venom.

That surprised Harry. He’d always thought Malfoy idolised his father.

“Okay… but your mother doesn’t deserve what’s happening to her?” Harry wasn’t sure whether it was a question or a statement, but Malfoy nodded in response anyway. He continued. “And you don’t deserve what you’ve been threatened with.”

“Don’t I…” Malfoy was focussed entirely on his own hands. Harry looked down at them too. One of his fingers was now bleeding where he’d torn some of the skin off the side of his fingernail. 

“You’re 16 and you’re scared.” Harry said with conviction. “Your Father is an evil bastard, but I don’t think you are. You may have been a bully and a prat, but that doesn’t mean you deserve whatever is happening to you right now. You look half-starved and sleep deprived. You’re a wreck. No, I don’t think you deserve whatever is happening to make your life so unbearable right now.”

“He’s living in my house.” The tears started when Malfoy admitted this, and Harry wanted to do nothing more than pull him into his arms and hug the other boy. The way Harry wished someone could have done for him every time he was upset. No one ever had though. Harry went with his instinct and wrapped his arms around Malfoy. Letting him cry on his shoulder. 

“Hey… it’s okay… we’ll work together and make it okay… we’ll get your mother out of there… I’ll protect you and her… It’ll all be okay… I promise.”

“It’s just not fair. She finally escapes father and his temper with him in prison, and then immediately the house gets taken over by an even worse bastard.”

“Shhhhh… it’ll be fine… we’ll get her out of there… I won’t let anyone hurt her or you again…” Harry was stroking at the soft blonde hair.

“Even with this on my arm…” Draco said with a self- depreciating laugh and then rolled up his sleeve exposing the Dark Mark. Harry had to force himself not to wince and push the boy away from him. The sight of the Mark made him feel a little sick. He took a deep breath to control himself.

“You took it to save your mother, right? I don’t think you truly want to serve him…”

The look of amazement in Malfoy’s eyes when Harry said this made Harry sure he’d done the right thing. He took hold of Draco’s hands and squeezed them. Harry didn’t know how but he was going to fix this for Malfoy. But he knew he’d try his damned hardest to do so.

“It was punishment for father… I…”

“I’ll protect you… I promise….” 

“I just wish… I wish I could go back to before all of this… Get me and mother out of there… I wish father had gone to Azkaban the first time and it could have just been me and mother… I wish…”

Hearing that fervent wish, made Harry think about his own life. The way he was raised. How he’d spent his entire life being kept in the dark. Of all the adults who had so much control over him, who said that they wished for him to have a childhood, but still sent him back to the Dursley’s, where he’d never had anything of the sort. He empathised so much with Draco, who by all accounts was the black pawn to his white. Opposite chess masters moving the two of them around a board to play their game of good vs evil. “I wish that too… I wish so much that I had never been raised the way I was too… I wish I could go back and steal myself from the doorstep and never let the Dursley’s have me…” Harry was crying too now. They were hugging with tears mingling and neither of them noticed the light building around them. 


	2. Future Possibilities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Draco wake up cold and very confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long chapter with a lot of dialogue, but is where the story really starts.

Harry opened his eyes. He was cold and his head felt muddled. Nothing seemed to hurt, so he guessed he hadn’t been injured at least. Where the hell was he? The last thing he remembered was talking with Malfoy in the room of requirement. Then a bright light. Had he made a mistake. Had Malfoy actually being trying to get him out of the castle. He didn’t think he’d been wrong. And he couldn’t imagine how Malfoy sobbing on him and confessing to having the Dark Mark could have been part of any plot. He shifted so he was sitting up and looked around. It was dark and the moon was small and not providing much light – he was sure it was still meant to be daytime – or at least the sun had still been out when they had entered the room of requirement. It felt like the middle of the night now – hours had clearly passed. Looking at his surroundings something else occurred to him. The place was familiar. Before he could fully process that thought, a groan came from behind him.

“Malfoy…?” He turned to look at the blond boy who was lying on the ground a metre or so away from where he was.

“Potter….?”

“Yeah.” He could tell just by looking at Malfoy on the ground that he was just as confused as Harry was. At least this confirmed that he almost definitely didn’t have anything to do with their current predicament.

“Where are we? What happened?” Malfoy stretched and blinked a few times, as if trying to clear his vision. Trying to put together his memories with his surroundings, much as Harry was. 

“Not a clue as to what happened, but as for where we are…” Harry looked around again at the familiar park. “I’m fairly certain we’re in Surrey, Little Whinging.” Not that that made any sense, but Harry couldn’t imagine there would be two places that looked just like this.

“Ummm….?” Malfoy sounded even more baffled than Harry felt.

“It’s where my muggle relatives live. I think this is the park near their house… but something seems off about the place… For one it’s bloody freezing…. There’s frost on the ground… It’s April… it shouldn’t be this cold… Also, the playground looks wrong… It looks like it used to when I was about 6. But it got replaced and updated… Something odd is happening.” Harry remembered when the wooden playground got torn down and was replaced. He used to love coming to hide here in the little nook under the climbing frame, where no one could see him and that his cousin didn’t know about. He used to stay tucked under there for hours, sometimes with a library book, but often only with his own troubled thoughts. Anything to avoid being at the Dursley’s.

“What do we do?” Malfoy asked. It felt a little odd having the other boy deferring to him. He was suddenly reminded of arriving in the graveyard with Cedric, and the eerie voice calling out to ‘kill the spare’. He shivered involuntarily and closed his eyes. This wasn’t the graveyard. This was Surrey. Voldemort wasn’t going to appear. He was safe. He had to be safe. Life couldn’t be cruel enough to do that to him again. It just couldn’t. He pulled together every ounce of courage he had. Malfoy was clearly even more scared than he was and falling into a flashback wasn’t going to help either of them.

“I want to have a look around.” Harry said, with more conviction than he felt. It was the Gryffindor approach. The one that Ron and Hermione would have expected of him.

“You sure? It’s dark and shouldn’t we try and head straight back to Hogwarts, or try and get in contact with someone?”

It was this that reminded him that he wasn’t talking to Ron and Hermione, but Draco Malfoy. He didn’t need to jump into things feet first with Draco. He didn’t have to play the brave hero right now. He could stop and think about what to do. 

“Probably… Who knows how long we’ve been missing? – but going by how dark it is I’m guessing it’s been a few hours at least. But we don’t have any money, and there aren’t any wizards living around here… well there’s Mrs Figg – my squib neighbour, I suppose… At least I’ve still got my rucksack – schoolbooks and parchments aren’t much use, but my invisibility cloak could come in handy.”

He watched Malfoy think over what he had said, clearly looking for any alternatives before agreeing. Deciding whether knocking on the door of some random woman he’d never met was really the best way forward. “Okay… let’s head to this squib woman… I’m pretty certain I want to get out of this place as soon as possible. Everyone will think I’ve kidnapped you and I don’t fancy the cell next to my Father’s.”

Harry hadn’t even thought about it that way. They had disappeared from Hogwarts at some time around 4pm by his reckoning. It had to be at least 11pm now, if not later. That was a fair amount of time to be missing. And the two of them missing together would not look good. Not to either side. He didn’t have any doubts what Dumbledore and the rest of his lot would do if they suspected Draco of being responsible for their unexpected departure from the castle. And if it got back to Voldemort that Draco had gotten Harry out of the castle and then just returned him, it wouldn’t be good either. They had to get back quickly, with as few people as possible knowing what had happened. He didn’t think he could keep it from the Headmaster, and probably not from Ron or Hermione, but maybe it wouldn’t have to go much further than that.

“I wouldn’t let them do that to you.” And Harry was rewarded with a small smile from Malfoy. Then he thought about Mrs Figg, an knew he had to mention what he knew about her to Malfoy before they rushed off to ask for her help. “About Mrs Figg…She’s in Dumbledore’s Order… Is that okay?”

Malfoy looked torn but eventually shrugged. “I don’t think we have much choice at this point. It’s the headmaster or the Dark Lord. Neither is a good option, but at least I don’t think Dumbledore will hold me under the cruciatus, which I suppose is the better of two evils. Also, I don’t think you’d agree to go to the Dark Lord. He’d more than likely kill you and I don’t particularly want to be responsible for that little mess.”

Harry snorted at the blunt sarcasm. He’d heard Malfoy use words like that as a defence mechanism before, for once he was in on the joke though. It felt nice. “Dumbledore it is then. I don’t really fancy dying right now, nor making you feel guilt ridden about leading to me to my death, either.” He said, shaking his head. He clambered to his feet and then helped pull Malfoy up. He kept hold of Malfoy’s hand even when the other boy was standing. Both of them were scared and having a physical connection between them was comforting. Harry led Malfoy towards Privet drive. At the edge of the park Harry felt resistance from Malfoy. He looked back and saw Malfoy had stopped by the bin and was looking down into it. The expression on his face was strange and he kept on looking between the paper and the watch on his right wrist.

“Potter. You need to look at this.” Malfoy said, urgency in his voice.

“Malfoy?” Hadn’t they just decided they needed to get back to the castle as quickly as possible. 

“Really, you need to see this.” Malfoy reached into the bin and grabbed out what looked like a paper. Harry couldn’t imagine what could be so important that the aristocratic blond had reached into a bin in a muggle neighbourhood and pulled out a paper. 

“What is it?” Harry asked, moving closer to the boy to see. “I don’t see anything special about it. It’s just a crappy muggle tabloid.”

“Look at the date.” Malfoy said glaring at Harry, as if Harry was being unbelievably stupid.

Harry was tempted to glare back and ignore the other boy, but the look Malfoy was giving him didn’t leave any room for questions. He did as he was told. Malfoy clearly thought this was important. Letting go of Malfoy’s hand he grabbed the paper. The second his eyes focused on the date he dropped the newspaper. He felt like he was going to be sick. The paper was dated the 31st of October, 1981. The day Voldemort went after his parents. The day the life he was supposed to have was ripped away from him. Despite the complete impossibility of the situation, Harry knew that they were in the past. That this was 1981. That somehow, they’d come back on the very day of his parents’ murder.

“We’ve got to go to Godric’s Hollow. Now. We can still save them. We can…”

“Harry…” Malfoy had thrown his arms around him. Harry was struggling, needing Malfoy to let him go. He had to get to them. “It’s too late. It’s already too late. They’ll already be dead.” Malfoy sounded close to tears as he said this.

“But…”

“There’s nothing we can do to save them, Harry… It’s already after midnight. It’s the first of November. They’re gone...”

“How do you know…? We might be able to…” Harry didn’t want to believe that some twist of fate had landed them here, but he was still unable to do something. Change the course of his life from the misery he’d endured for years. To stop himself from becoming the chosen one. The child of the prophecy.

“Harry… My watch. It’s too late…”

“But… if we’re really in 1981, how can you trust your watch is telling the right time. We still might be able to get there… Please… Please… we have to try…” Harry tried to logic whilst tears started streaming down his face.

“I’m so sorry, Harry. I’m so, so sorry. If I thought there was even the slightest chance, I would apparate us there this minute and drag them out of the house before he got there. But they’re already gone, Harry.” Malfoy emphasised these words. Harry knew he was right. Knew there was nothing he could do. He felt all the fight go out of him. If Malfoy hadn’t been holding onto him, he was sure he would have fallen to the muddy ground.

“It’s not fair.” Harry sobbed.

“I know it’s not.” Draco soothed, stroking his back comfortingly.

“Dumbledore is going to leave me on that doorstep in 24 hours.” Harry said morosely. “He’ll grow up with those monsters, just like me. He’ll be beaten and starved and locked in a cupboard. No one is going to love him. He’ll be the freak servant who doesn’t even know his name till school. He…” Harry hated this. Hated it so much. Shaking in Malfoy’s arms he admitted every awful thing the Dursleys had ever done to him. Even being tied to the headstone in the graveyard hadn’t made him feel this helpless.

“Harry.” Draco said softly when Harry had eventually stopped talking. He lifted Harry’s face from his shoulder, so they were eye to eye. “We won’t let that happen. You promised me that you’d save my mother. Well, she certainly isn’t living with him in my house now. He’s gone for the next 13 and a half years. Because of you. I’m not going to let you grow up in the house you clearly hate.”

Harry felt a glimmer of hope. He wanted nothing more than to trust what Malfoy was saying. “What can we do?”

Malfoy looked at him and smiled in a way that screamed of cunning. A smile Harry hadn’t seen in far too long. One of the ones he’d seen from across the tables at Hogwarts more times than he could count. Malfoy was clearly plotting something. Something, Harry was sure, would be to both of their benefits, rather than to his detriment, as it had always been before. “What do you know about you being left there?”

Harry looked at Malfoy quizzically. He thought he knew where this was going. And it was insane and more than he had ever hoped for. “I was placed on the doorstep at some point during the night of the 1st of November, 1981, maybe the early hours of the 2nd. My Aunt found me in the morning.”

“So there is a gap where you’re on their doorstep with no one watching you?”

“Yes. At least I think so. But there are blood wards that Dumbledore put around the house. Something to do with my mother’s sacrifice. It’s probable that only a blood relative could take me from that step. I can’t believe he’d leave me out there with no protection.”

Draco stayed silent then for a second. Clearly thinking. Then he burst into a wide smile.

“You could take him.”

“What?”

“You said blood wards. Your aunt would have been able to take you from the step in the morning. That’s what likely linked the wards to her. But you’re definitely the closest blood relation to you. You could pick yourself up and then the wards would attach themselves to your blood. You could pick up baby Harry and we could take him away. He’ll never see the inside of that house.”

“Really…?” Harry said, cautiously optimistic. He didn’t know enough about protective wards, or really wards of any kind, but trusted that Draco did. At least the other boy seemed confident enough. 

“Really. But we can’t do anything until you’re placed there. And we probably need to find a place to take him where he’ll be safe. No one can know who we are right now. And if anyone finds out we have him, they’ll try and take him from us. So we need to get some money, some identities, and a place to stay.”

“We’re going to rescue me.” Harry was grinning too now.

“In 24 hours, Harry.”

Harry had never felt so grateful to anyone in his life. Then he had a thought. If there was a little Harry waiting to be brought up by awful people, there was a little Draco as well. A Draco who had admitted to him earlier that his father was just as vile as Vernon was. 

“What about you? There’s a baby you here too. _He_ isn’t in your house right now, but your father will be. He’ll still be the one to raise you. And we can’t exactly kidnap you.” The thought of trying to break into the Manor and kidnap baby Draco wasn’t one that Harry thought they could carry out. Lucius Malfoy was hardly going to let his heir go without a fight. If they took Draco there would no doubt be a man hunt for them, and they couldn’t risk that. But Draco had come up with a plan to rescue Harry and from the limited information Draco had told him, little Draco needed rescuing too.

“I don’t know...” Draco said, clearly thinking along the same lines as Harry about the impossibility of getting baby Draco away from Lucius. “We’d need to get my mother out of the house as well.”

“Would she come with us if we went to her?”

“Maybe… If she believes that we really are us… But my father probably wouldn’t let her. He wouldn’t let us take me either. And whatever we do in this time we can’t get caught.”

Harry pondered for a moment. He had made a promise to Draco to rescue his mother and he was damned whether a little accidental time travel was going to stop him from doing just that.

“Did your father end up getting arrested at any point after the fall of Voldemort?”

“I think he spent two, maybe three, days in holding cells in the Ministry before being cleared of all charges. He claimed the Imperius.”

“If we could persuade your mother to testify to his involvement, do you think he’d end up in Azkaban? Or do you think he’d still be able to weasel his way out?”

“He locked mother away so she couldn’t testify…”

“When do they arrest him?” Harry said excitedly, the start of a plan forming in his head.

“Some point in the next week or so. I don’t actually know the date, but it wasn’t straight away if what he told me when I was younger is true.”

“So we have a few days to plan. We’ll need to get into the Manor when your father isn’t there.”

Malfoy suddenly grinned widely.

“I can get past the wards he puts up. They’re linked to Malfoy blood. I can get her out of there and she can testify at his trial. Then I’ll be able to take over as the head of the family. We’ll be able to get money that way…. You could probably claim the Potter one too. The Lord’s seats would be pretty useful.”

“Lord’s seats. What the hell do you mean by that. And rights as head of the family?”

“The Lord thing is just seats in the Wizangamot. You know, like the house of lords, but for wizards. It gives us some political clout – or has the potential to do so. And being head of the family, or even heir to the head of the family, gives you certain control over blood wards, family estates and finances. Weren’t you ever told? I mean I know Hogwarts refuses to teach us anything about it, as most of its really only relevant for a handful of pureblood families – and heaven forbid they teach anything about blood magic, but I would have thought someone would have told you. Given the Potter family is one of the few it’s relevant for.”

“No.” Harry admitted. Malfoy scrutinised him. It made Harry feel embarrassed. As if he had done something incredibly stupid. Harry wanted to shout at him and get cross. It wasn’t his bloody fault he didn’t know all of this stuff. How was he supposed to know about these things if no one ever bothered to bloody well tell him? Before he could open his mouth again, Malfoy interrupted him.

“Okay…Well you know now and that’s what’s important, and I can explain exactly what it means when we’re not stood in a park in the middle of the night. For now, planning what to do next is more important and the first step is to go to Gringotts and claim the Potter Estate. We then need to make sure we get back here in time to grab baby you tonight and find somewhere to hide out until my father’s arrest that’s safe and secure for us and the baby. Then we take mother out of the Manor and get her to testify against my father. When he’s sent to Azkaban then I can take over as head of the Malfoy family. I’m sure there are other things as well, but I think those are the priorities”.

“That sounds…. Well it sounds ridiculous, but we’re somehow in 1981 so I think ridiculous is par for the….” Harry stopped talking. He remembered something else important that happened today. “Sirius!” Harry exclaimed. He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten Sirius. Sirius who had died trying to protect him, and who was about to make a mistake that would land him in Azkaban and set him on the path straight back towards the veil in the department of mysteries if he wasn’t careful. 

“What?” Malfoy tilted his head and looked at Harry as if he were insane. 

“Sirius. Sirius Black. My godfather. He’s going after Pettigrew right now. If we don’t stop him, he’ll end up spending the next 12 years in Azkaban. We can still save him. We’re in time for that.” Harry looked at Malfoy with pleading eyes. “Please Draco…. This is important to me.”

Malfoy’s expression looked pained as he thought over Harry’s plea, eyebrows scrunching together.

“Okay… we can save your godfather.” Malfoy said, eventually, but he didn’t sound sure. Harry latched onto his words anyhow. He was going to change everything. He was going to save all the people who had been hurt last time. He could do it.

“We need to work out where he is going to be. I haven’t got a clue. I just know he was caught after Pettigrew blew up a street and faked his death.” Harry said, excitedly; words racing ahead of thoughts and tumbling out of his mouth.

“I do…” Malfoy still sounded unsure whether this was a good idea. “It will be cutting it really fine. Mother took me to where the street was blown up and Sirius was arrested when I was little. The joys of learning all about the Black family history. I still remember where it was. We know he’ll be there today. We just have to spot him before he confronts Pettigrew.”

Harry couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face and threw his arms around Draco.

“Thank you… Thank you… Thank you… You don’t know what it means…” Tears started to sting Harry’s eyes.

“Stop those silly tears now, Potter.” Malfoy chastised, although his voice sounded fond and warm. 

“Sorry, Draco.” Harry said and sheepishly unwound his arms from around the other boy.

“It’s okay.”

“How are we going to get there? I think I have some muggle change in the bottom of my bag, but not enough for the bus or train into London for the two of us. Besides, nothing will be running till morning and we might be too late if we have to wait till then. I don’t have any wizarding money on me… that’s in my trunk back at school.” It all came out in a rush in his delight at the fact that they were actually going to do this.

“I don’t have any wizarding money on me either, but we don’t need it. I can apparate us there.”

“You’re not 17 yet.”

“Technically I’m not even one and a half right now according to my birth certificate.” Malfoy said with his old drawl. The one Harry remembered from school. It made him happy to hear Malfoy talk like this. Unlike every time he’d heard Draco speak like this before, he was in on the joke, instead of the butt of it. Just like the plotting, it was much more fun to be this side of the table when it came to the sneaky blonde Slytherin.

“I know that…” Harry swatted lightly at Draco. “But your wand will have the trace on it. We can’t alert the Ministry of Magic. One, what will we tell them… two… even if we do manage to keep it from them, we are time travellers. Besides, you have the Dark Mark on your arm, and I’m pretty sure they aren’t going to be lenient with you right now about that.”

“Imayhaveasecondwandwithoutthetrace.” Draco mumbled, looking down at his shoes.

“What was that?” Harry didn’t understand a word Draco had said with the words all garbled together.

“I said, I have a second wand. One without the trace on it.”

“Is that legal?” That probably wasn’t important right now, but it was all Harry could think to say.

“No. But most purebloods have one. Or at least the ones in my family’s circle of friends. My Ollivander’s wand is only for school really. I’ve had my other one since I was eight and it’s much better suited to me than the school one.”

That didn’t sound exactly fair to Harry. That purebloods were given wands not only early, but ones they could use out of school. Harry wished he’d had a wand like that. It would have made his life a whole lot easier. Then he realised. Maybe he could get one now. Using his own wand definitely wasn’t a good idea in this time. They could not risk the trace going off, and it would remain on his wand till the 31st of July 1997. Sixteen years without being able to use magic wasn’t exactly going to be convenient. He looked up at Draco, who still looked a bit sheepish. As if he knew what Harry was thinking. Harry smiled reassuringly. However fair or not fair it may be, it wasn’t like it was Draco’s fault he was at an advantage. And it was an advantage that Harry should be grateful for right now.

“Does that mean you know where to get me a wand without the trace on?”

Draco smiled back at him, relieved his revelation had been so easily accepted. He had been expecting Harry to be angry about the advantages certain families gave their children. Ones that most young witches and wizards didn’t even know about, let alone got the chance to utilise.

“Yes. We can sort that out once we’ve rescued your godfather from his own stupid recklessness.”

____________

Draco apparated them to a relatively non-descript street in central London. There was a café open, despite the early hour and the two of them headed into it. It’s My Party was playing quietly on the radio. Harry thought it was apt. Today was his party. He knew the entire wizarding world was celebrating him today. And he could fucking cry all he wanted to, today. He already had. One version of him was fifteen months old, which was a pretty good excuse for crying all by itself, let alone if you included that he’d just been orphaned and had a lightning bolt carved into his forehead by a spell no one should have been able to survive. This version of him had managed to time travel with his rival, who didn’t feel very much like a rival anymore, and not only sob all over him, but be covered in the other boy’s tears too. This was a messed up and confusing day. The announcer said something about 3rd week in the number one spot as the song ended and Harry was drawn out of his strange thoughts. Draco was looking at him with a puzzled expression. His little space out had obviously been noticed. 

“Your party. Seems about right.” Draco commented with a small snort and a shrug, but to Harry’s relief didn’t make any other comments.

Harry dug out three, pound coins and about 70p in small change from the depths of his bag. It was the same one he’d used during the summer, and it was what was left from the small amount of muggle money he’d managed to pinch to buy some food whilst he was stuck at the Dursleys. He checked the coins quickly for the date on them, and was relieved that two of the pound coins, the 50p, as well as some of the coppers were minted prior to 1981. It was enough to buy them both a cup of tea and a bacon butty each, especially as food seemed to be cheaper than he remembered. He didn’t really want to risk using coins from the future. He wasn’t quite sure what the consequences of using, what would be assumed to be, counterfeit money would be, although given it was small change it was unlikely to be too dramatic. The worst that was likely to happen would the money being refused, if anyone even noticed. It’s not like he ever really noticed what year his coins came from. Making themselves comfortable at a table by the window, the two of them sat down to eat.

“I think we should wait till we have Sirius before we go to Gringotts.” Draco said, breaking the silence.

“Okay.”

“I’m not sure whether he’ll be able to claim his rights as the head of the Black family now or have to wait another four years. Which is, if I remember correctly, when my Great Aunt Walburga dies.”

“Is that important?”

“Well, it would be easier if he could do it now. His father is dead, and he’s the only heir as Regulus is presumed dead, so I think it’s probably possible. But it all depends on what was in Orion’s will. I was too little when Aunt Walburga died to really remember the details.”

“I know he inherited the Black estate at some point. But I’ve no clue about how any of the whole wizarding inheritance works.”

“It’s worth a try. It’ll be easier to get Mother away if we have the head of her birth family on our side. She’s a Black, and it would be possible to return to her family if she had the head of her family’s consent.” Draco had clearly been thinking this through. Harry felt a little ashamed that his thoughts hadn’t drifted further than ridiculous old songs and paranoia about small change.

“Will that change anything regarding your inheritance?”

“Possibly. Well at least for little me. Lucius already recognised me as his heir, which should still be valid, even though it won’t officially happen for another 14 years. It might not be good enough for the Ministry – we’d need identities we can use and documentation for that, but it should be enough for Gringotts. The Goblins work by different rules.”

“And I’ll be able to claim the Potter estate, even though technically I’m only one and half at this time, and there are two of me.”

“I believe so. Magic will recognise the number of years you’ve lived. Normally, once a wizard is 15, they can be officially recognised as the Heir to the family or f they are the last living member of the family, they can claim the head of the family. Had Sirius had had a trial and was convicted, the Black Estate would have come to me when I was 15. Probably with my father in control until that point. As he didn’t, the vaults just sat there, and the title and seat in the Wizangamot was unused.”

“Why did the estate come to me when he died then?”

“I guess at some point after he escaped Azkaban, he made a will naming you heir.”

“Oh… Sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter to me. I have the Lestrange estate I can claim, as well as the Malfoy one. It’s not like I’m short of cash and property.” Malfoy snorted.

Harry decided to leave the whole tangle of inheritance for the moment. It was giving him a headache and he wasn’t really sure why it was so important, aside from being a way to get access to money and property.

“Do you remember what time the events of today happen?”

“Not sure. Morning, I think. 13 muggles die in the explosion, so I’m guessing the street is relatively busy, but not rush hour busy. That means we’re probably talking between 6.45am and 7.30am or after 9.30am and before lunch.” Harry was kind of amazed by Draco’s way of applying logic to the situation. It was something he would never have thought about. 

“You know a bizarre amount about the London foot traffic.”

“Sometimes I would escape into London to get away from Father. I would people watch. I’m not sure whether they’ll be more or less people around in 1981 though, so we should probably start looking for him from about 6am. We should check in with each other every 30 minutes.”

“It’s just after 5.30 now. Do you want another cup of tea? I have enough money for one more.”

“Yes please.”

They sat with their tea in silence for a little while. Harry watched as Draco played with the sugar cubes. A thought hit him then. One that he probably should have had before now. In the excitement of potentially being able to change the future he had completely disregarded how dangerous what they were doing was. He remembered what Hermione had said back in third year about time travel and the risks of trying to change things. They’d done it then, or at least he thought they had, except that everything that had happened had already occurred when they repeated those three hours. He saw himself cast the stag patronus on the first run through and then had done it on the second.

“Draco…?”

“Yes, Harry.” Malfoy said, looking up from the little sugar cube igloo he was building.

“Should we really be doing this? I mean… Shouldn’t we be trying to find a way back, not trying to change things. Time travel is stupidly dangerous right. What if by doing this we end up… I don’t know… destroying the universe or something?”

“Nice and melodramatic, Potter.”

Harry snorted. “Yeah… well… I’m serious. Don’t we run the risk of erasing ourselves from existence by changing things. Hermione told me something about it back in third year when she was using a time-turner to get to all her classes.”

“She was… You know what, never mind.” Draco sounded exasperated, and Harry really couldn’t blame him. Giving a school child such a potentially dangerous piece of equipment just so she could go to a few extra classes, that weren’t even necessary, was a little ridiculous. “Granger being giving a time-turner when she was 13 is not the issue here. Yes, potentially we could cause a paradox by changing things. But we’ve already changed things by just being here. Us sitting in this café and drinking this tea is potentially changing things.”

“But by saving Sirius and…” Harry trailed off.

“Rescuing little you and me…” Draco finished for him.

“Yes… Those are really big things. And things that change the way the future plays out according to our own personal timeline. That… it seems risky.”

“It’s definitely risky.” Draco replied, without a hint of the apprehension Harry had had creeping up on him over the last five minutes. Draco looked over at Harry and sighed, looking resigned to something. He continued, making it obvious that Malfoy had already thought what was just occurring to Harry through. “The way I see it, we could play it out like a time turner and just return to where we vanished from when we arrive at that point. We could hide out in this time and just live our lives in complete isolation, doing whatever we could to minimise any interference. We’d have to come up with some story about why we’re suddenly in our 30s though when we turned up at Hogwarts. And that will leave the other versions of us, the babies who are meant to be in this time, to live the crap lives we had. And we haven’t come back by the usual means of time travel have we – or at least it isn’t one that I’ve ever heard of. I don’t know what brought us back here, but I know what I was thinking just before. I wanted to do things differently.”

“I did too.” Harry whispered, remembering the wish for things to be different.

“So I say we trust that the magic that sent us back did it for us to do just that. And if we’re going to rescue the younger versions of ourselves, we may as well save Sirius. If the magic says that we can’t do that then it will more than likely either erase us from existence or throw us back to the point in the future we came back from. I’m willing to risk that. I probably should have explained this to you before.”

Harry thought about what Draco said for a long moment.

“So we take the Gryffindor approach and say fuck it to the principles of time travel.”

“I wouldn’t put it quite like that. I say it’s a calculated risk. I don’t want to go back to that future. I don’t want that future to exist. We’re anomalies in time as it is right now. And if we’re going to be anomalies, I say we do it with style. I don’t fancy spending the next 15 and a half years as a hermit only to end up in my 30s in the same shitty situation I left behind yesterday.”

Harry still thought it was a very Gryffindor way to look at it, but if Draco was willing to risk being erased from existence then he could hardly not do the same. Besides, he wanted to change things. He didn’t want to grow up in that cupboard all over again. He couldn’t let his other self go through that. His other self was going to grow up as a completely different person to him. And even if it was a logical impossibility, he was damned if he wasn’t going to try.

_______________

It was 10.25. Harry had 30 minutes before he was next due to check in at the phone box he and Draco had designated when he spotted Sirius. The man looked so young but was still recognisable as his godfather. Harry made his way towards him. There was no sign of Pettigrew yet, or at least Harry hadn’t spotted him, but knew he had to be here. It took all of his will power not to seek out the traitor. That would only spell disaster.

“Sirius.” Harry called loudly when he thought he was close enough for the man to hear. Sirius turned his head towards the sound and Harry shouted again.

“Sirius. Don’t do this.”

“James…” Harry couldn’t actually hear the word above the traffic, but he was fairly certain that was what his Godfather had said when he spotted Harry. Then Sirius was running towards him and throwing his arms around Harry. “James… James… I thought you were dead. I saw you… at Godric’s Hollow. You and Lily… You were dead. How are you here?” Sirius was crying onto Harry’s shoulder. A stray thought that his clothes had been soaked in tears more times than he thought possible in the last day crossed Harry’s mind as he accepted his godfather’s embrace. Fuck, he’d missed Sirius. The only adult who’d ever really seemed to care about Harry.

“I’m not James.” Harry eventually whispered, knowing that Sirius would break the embrace at the words, and dreading it.

“James…?”

“I’m not James.” Harry said a little bit louder this time.

Sirius let Harry go and stepped back. Then Sirius’ wand was pointing at him. Harry was glad they were out of sight of muggles for the moment down an empty side alley. The last thing they needed was aurors appearing because they were breaking the statute of secrecy.

“Who the hell are you?” Sirius said, aggressively.

Harry tried to find the words. How was he supposed to explain? He and Draco hadn’t actually come up with a plan for this part. It was stupid of them. So Harry did the only thing he could. He told the truth.

“I’m Harry. I’m Harry James Potter and you’re my godfather and I can’t let you go after Wormtail.”

“You’re lying.” Sirius snarled. “Harry is a baby. He’s safe with Dumbledore.”

“I’m not lying, Padfoot.” Tears were coming thick and fast. That stupid song from the café was going round and round in his head like the worst ear worm imaginable. “Please. I need you to believe me. If you do what you’re planning you’re going to spend the next 12 years in Azkaban. You’re going to be accused of betraying mum and dad. You won’t see me until I’m 13 years old. We’ll get a few weeks together over the span of two years and then you’ll die. Please Padfoot. Siri. Please.”

“You’re not Harry.” Sirius said coldly. “You cannot be Harry.”

“I’m Harry. I promise. I’m Harry. Please…. Please come with me. I’ll explain. Look at me. I look like my Dad, but I have Mum’s eyes.” Harry moved his fringe off the scar on his forehead. “I know you’ve seen the cut that made this scar on baby Harry in the wreckage of Godric’s Hollow. I know you gave me to Hagrid. Come with me. I’ll explain everything. But you have to leave the Rat be. Padfoot. Siri. I’m begging you. Let him go… we’ll track him down later. We’ll make him pay for what he did to my parents. But if you face him now, you’ll end up in Azkaban for his crimes. Without a trial. I know where Dumbledore is planning on leaving baby Harry and you can’t let him stay there. You need to stay out of prison. Baby Harry needs you. I need you…”

The mention of little Harry seemed to do the trick, although Harry wasn’t sure it was because Sirius believed him about being Harry, or whether he thought Harry was going to do something to hurt the baby.

“You know where Harry is?” Sirius gave him a suspicious glare. He was definitely leaning towards the belief that Harry could only know where little Harry was if he was going to do something nefarious to him. Harry tried to stay calm. To keep Sirius calm. The last thing he needed was for his godfather to try and arrest him, or worse. There had to be at least a small amount of doubt in Sirius’ mind about who Harry really was for him not to have already done that. Harry just had to make Sirius curious enough about who he was to go along with him and Draco for the time being. At least until they could get some proof as to who they were.

“Not right now…. But I know where he’ll be tonight. And so does my companion.” Harry threw this in so Sirius didn’t decide that the best option would be to take Harry down. That if Harry had someone else with him that knew, then he needed to get Harry on his side to find out who else knew and take them both together. “I know where Dumbledore is planning to take him. If you leave him there again, I’ll never forgive you.”

“Where is Dumbledore planning to take him…?”

“Petunia…” Harry spat out. “Mum’s sister… She hates magic and she takes it out on Harry. On me… I didn’t learn I was a wizard until my eleventh birthday. I didn’t learn who you were until I was 13. And then I lost you less than a year ago when I was 15. Bellatrix Lestrange killed you. Please…. Believe me…. I can’t explain here. Come with me. We need to go before Pettigrew spots us and blows this whole street up. If he does what he did last time he’ll end up as the Weasley’s pet rat. We can get him when he’s there….”

“Say I’m thinking about trusting you… not that I believe a word your saying… What do you want me to do…?”

“Come with me and my friend to Gringotts. I can prove who I am there… We can get money and find somewhere to stay… Somewhere to take Harry when we rescue him. Then there are some other people we need to rescue and one particular blonde death eater to ensure gets a life sentence in Azkaban rather than getting off scott free.”

Sirius paused for an excruciatingly long minute and then lowered his wand. It remained clutched tightly in his hand however, ready to use at a moment’s notice. Harry, like he’d done with Draco in the bathroom, tried to stay as calm and non-threatening as he could manage.

“My friend will be waiting at the phone box over there. Don’t hex him when you see him…. He’s not his father… He’s…. He’s like me… someone out of time.” Draco looking so much like his father at first glance was not exactly useful right now.

Harry held out his hand to Sirius and was relieved when his godfather took it. He made his way towards the phone booth. Draco spotted Harry when he was about 5 metres away and practically ran to him, throwing his arms around Harry. 

“When you were late… I thought… Maybe you’d disappeared.”

“It’s okay Draco… I found Sirius…. He’s….”

A snarl came from the older man…

“Lucius…”

“Siri… Stop!” Harry said. Turning and placing himself between Draco and Sirius’s wand. “He’s like me… He’s not his father… He’s Draco Lucius Malfoy… Son of Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black. He was born the 5th of June 1980. Look at him… He’s 16…. Look at him… he’s too young to be Lucius… He has the Black family eyes. He’s like me….”

“Show me your left forearm….” Sirius said, still with his wand in his hand and aggression pouring off him. It was a shock that no muggles had spotted the altercation. They weren’t as hidden away here. 

“That won’t help Siri…” Harry pleaded…. And Sirius growled again. “Siri, Draco has the Dark Mark. But he won’t hurt us. I promise he won’t hurt us. He was forced. His mother was being threatened. Your cousin Narcissa. Voldemort was in his house. He’s had every opportunity to hurt me, but he hasn’t. He’s my friend. Draco is my friend. He’s not a Death Eater. He just wants a chance to do it right this time.” Harry tried to throw in as much as he knew into the pleas, to try and at least make Sirius question the situation enough to wonder how Harry knew these details if he wasn’t who he was claiming to be.

“Harry….?” The voice was quiet and came from behind him. Harry turned his back on his godfather and towards Draco. It was probably a really stupid thing to do, but he couldn’t not. He knew he’d made the right decision when their eyes met. Draco looked so fragile. Not just the emaciated frame, but everything about him screamed that he was so breakable in that moment.

“I’m your friend Draco.” Harry said, softly. At that moment nothing else mattered other than that Draco needed him. He wrapped Draco into his arms and hugged him tightly. “We’re in a weird and fucked up situation and I haven’t a clue about almost anything right now. But I do know that whatever happens, you are my friend now and I’m so glad you’re here with me. I don’t know whether I could have coped with this were I alone.” It seemed that being anomalies in time and plotting to change the future could be just as effective at forging friendships as fighting a troll in a bathroom could be.

“You’re my friend too, Harry. It’s all I’ve ever wanted. Since before I even met you, I wanted to be your friend, but I messed it all up on the train. I was an arrogant prat.”

“You were eleven. And I wasn’t much better.”

There were more tears. Eventually they broke apart and Harry turned back to the stunned looking Sirius. It seemed that the two of them hugging and crying over each other had managed to do something all of the pleas and begging hadn’t. Sirius’ curiosity definitely seemed peaked, rather than the thinly veiled attempt at trying to arrest them for some kind of plot against little Harry. Against his Godson. Harry wasn’t stupid. He had known exactly what Sirius had been thinking, he just hoped that he could keep the man on their side long enough to prove that he really was who he said he was.

“Can we go to Gringotts now? Can we try and prove that we’re telling the truth?” Harry asked his godfather. He thought they’d probably done enough to save the man with the delay their meeting had caused. Pettigrew was probably gone already. Hopefully after spotting Harry and freaking out thinking James was still alive and well. Still Harry didn’t want to let Sirius go. Not only would it help enormously to have an adult on their side who at least could prove who they were, but Harry wanted Sirius with him. He wanted to get to know his godfather properly. To have the chance that future events robbed him of.

“I don’t know… I don’t know if I can trust you… and I certainly don’t trust him.” Sirius glared at Draco. “Even if he isn’t Lucius, he’s still a Malfoy and you said yourself he’s a Death Eater, he can’t be trusted.”

“Show him the cloak.” Draco whispered in Harry’s ear.

“Sirius… If I pass you my wand, to prove I’m not going to try and hex you, will you let me get something out of my bag.” Harry said, marvelling at the fact that he hadn’t thought to show his godfather the items of his father’s that had thankfully made the trip with him.

“Fine. But I want the Malfoy kid’s wand too… Both of them…” Harry didn’t question how Sirius knew Draco had two wands. He was a Black and raised in an old pureblood family. He probably had two too.

“Okay…. Just… trust me… don’t hex us…. I only have one wand. I was raised by muggles… didn’t know having two was a thing. Draco has two though… he’ll hand them over. Won’t you Draco”

Draco looked appalled at the suggestion. Harry stared at him wide eyed and pleading. He needed Draco to do this. Eventually Draco nodded. Harry and Draco handed their wands over and Sirius stood there watching with narrowed eyes, as if expecting this all to be a trick, or an elaborate joke. Harry didn’t blame him. If he were in Sirius’ position, he wouldn’t have trusted them either.

Harry pulled out not only his father’s invisibility cloak but an old piece of parchment. Sirius’ eyes went wide seeing the two items.

“Where did you get those?”

“The cloak… It was given to me anonymously on my first Christmas in the wizarding world. It was Dumbledore. It had a note saying that dad had left it with him, and he was returning it to me. The map… Yes, I know it’s a map… It was given to me the year you escaped from Azkaban. By the Weasley twins… they’re three I think right now… they stole it from Filch’s office in their first year at Hogwarts. I know this all sounds like nonsense. But look… I know how to open it… I solemnly swear I’m up to no good.”

Ink started spreading across the page and the map of Hogwarts appeared. Little feet with mostly unknown names spread across the map. Everyone seemed to be huddled in groups. Despite the time it seemed no one was in classes. They were all celebrating, Harry supposed. Harry glanced over the map and saw a name that surprised him. Harry James Potter. What was he doing at the school? Then he thought about it. He knew from the number of times his Aunt and Uncle had shouted at him that the 2nd of November was the worst in their lives, as it was the one where he’d been dumped on them, yet his parents had died on the 31st of October. There was a missing 24 hours. Logically he’d known this for ages. It just hadn’t crossed his mind to wonder where he’d been during that time. 

“Draco… Dumbledore has me in his office.”

“What?” Draco responded in astonishment.

“I’m in his office. I don’t know why. Why, if he wanted me with my aunt and uncle, didn’t he take me straight there?”

Sirius answered.

“I have first rights to your guardianship. I only gave you to Hagrid to look after temporarily. I wasn’t giving you over forever.”

“But you went to Azkaban. And from what Dumbledore’s told me over the years, I needed to be under the blood wards that only my aunt could provide. It was always his plan for me to go to the Dursleys.”

“Harry… we shouldn’t talk about this here. We should get somewhere more private.” Malfoy tugged at his sleeve nervously as he said this. His eyes were darting around as if he was expecting someone to pounce on them.

Harry looked around too. He couldn’t see why Malfoy was acting so jumpy. They were still stood by the phone box. No one was paying them any attention. Still, it definitely wasn’t the right place to have this discussion. They were surrounded by muggles, Pettigrew could still be close by, and nothing they were saying was exactly Statute of Secrecy compliant.

“Sirius… Will you please come with us to Gringotts? We can go over all of this later. We need to have everything ready before tonight. Before we go get baby Harry.”

“Fine… I don’t trust either of you in the slightest. But I’ll go with you… I’m keeping your wands for the time being though.”

“That’s okay. Do you want to apparate or walk to the Leaky?”

“We can walk. You two in front of me. And don’t think of making any sudden moves.”

_______________

It was an uncomfortable walk to the Leaky Cauldron. About 10 minutes in, the realisation that they’d changed time hit and Harry’s breathing started to speed up. And nothing bad had happened. They were actually going to be able to do this. To change everything. Draco reached and took Harry’s hand and intertwined their fingers. It helped Harry feel a bit less apprehensive about the whole mess they’d found themselves in. As if Draco was the only solid thing in the entire universe. Maybe it was this feeling that had caused Draco to be so apprehensive earlier. He thought maybe it might have been. It had just taken Harry a bit longer to have the same realisation. Harry managed to get control of his breathing and squeezed Draco’s hand in thanks and got a squeeze in return. Whatever happened next, the two of them would be doing it together. 

The pub was rammed when they got to it. Wizards were even spilling out onto the muggle street in front. None of them seemed to care that they were wearing robes or using their wands in complete violation of the statute of secrecy. For most people this was a day of celebration. The day Voldemort was defeated by a one-year-old baby. A one-year-old that was currently holed up in a school with its headmaster for some unknown reason before being dropped off in the dead of night in a muggle neighbourhood, to be raised by his magic hating relatives. They eventually managed to squeeze their way through and out the back. When they entered Diagon Alley, it was even worse. A whole bloody festival was happening on the street. Gringotts, it seemed, was open as usual. The goblins acting just the same as ever. Harry actually sighed in relief when they got through the door and saw the stern looking creatures. Draco led the way to one of the tellers and requested, in what was the most aristocratic voice Harry had ever heard from the other boy, and that was taking into account how Draco usually sounded, to be taken to a private room in order to discuss the Black, Potter, Lestrange and Malfoy estates.

“Very well. Come this way Misters Potter, Black and Malfoy. We shall see what we can do.”

The three of them followed the goblin to a private room. Sirius looked slightly gobsmacked. Harry was confused. But Draco looked supremely confident. Like this was his element. It probably was Harry thought a little enviously. He would love to feel like he was in his element just once today. Feel like he wasn’t having emotional swings in every direction with every confusing development.

The Goblin left the room and when he came back, he had three other goblins with him, each carrying a large chest.

“Mister Malfoy. We were very surprised when an alert went off in the early hours of this morning to tell us the heir ring of the Malfoy family had been claimed. I hope you are here to explain.”

“I will explain what I can. I would also like to claim my rights as heir to the Lestrange estate…”

“Very well. And I assume Mister Potter and Mister Black are here to claim their respective titles.”

“Yes.” Draco answered for them. Harry didn’t know what he was doing, and Sirius appeared to have lost the ability to speak. It was probably quite a shock to have the goblins confirm that what Harry and Draco had said was true.

The goblins opened the trunks. Each trunk was filled with more paperwork than could logically fit in the space the outside dimensions displayed. There were also two small boxes in each trunk. The claiming of the rings themselves was relatively simple. Harry put the Potter ring on and felt a warm wash of power, similar to how it felt when he received his wand the in Olivander’s store, either 10 years in the future or five in the past, depending on how the time was perceived. When he had the ring on, he looked at Sirius and Draco, who’d done similarly with their own rings. Harry was actually a little surprised that Sirius had accepted his ring. It was something Harry was sure Sirius hadn’t done in the future from the little he knew of the man. From what he could see of the man’s face now, it seemed he was almost working on autopilot. The ring was placed in front of him, and he simply slid it on his finger. No thought of what it might mean.

“Thank you, sirs.” Draco said, when they were done. “We would be eternally grateful if you could advise us as to the best secure and large estate we could live on. One in England and one on the continent. We’d also like to take out some galleons, and myself and Mister Potter, at least, would appreciate a pouch linked to our vaults. We’d also like to be able to purchase in the muggle world without having to come in to exchange money every time. Could this be arranged?”

“Of course, Mister Malfoy.” The goblin replied with a sly grin, thinking gleefully about the commission he was about to get for the range of services rendered.

______________

After leaving the bank they headed back out into muggle London and found a café to get some lunch in. Draco shoved up a muffliato as soon as their food arrived, so they wouldn’t be overheard. Sirius had given them their wands back at the bank, albeit grudgingly.

“So you’ve proven you are who you say you are.” Sirius spat out, glaring at Draco. Sirius had regained his distrust along with his voice. Even if for now he’d accepted they were who they said they were.

“I believe we have. The rings wouldn’t have accepted us if we weren’t”.

“I didn’t see you accept the Malfoy ring.”

“That’s because I accepted it not long after my 15th birthday. The fact that I technically haven’t had my 15th birthday yet clearly doesn’t matter within Gringotts. I already have that ring.”

“And the Lestrange one.”

“Yes. I decided against accepting it when I accepted the Malfoy one, but I want as much flexibility as possible right now. The heir vault has a decent amount of gold in it if I remember correctly, and Uncle Rodolphus and Aunt Bella are hardly going to notice if it’s in use. They don’t care about much except what the Dark Lord wants. I would have accepted the Black one, but you named Harry as your heir later, and I don’t want to overrule any decision you might decide to make in the future. Although, had the war not been happening in 1996, I probably would have fought Harry legally for it, after you died. The Black estate and seats would have been useful, and Harry wasn’t even claiming it. I didn’t know he had no knowledge of how wizarding heritage works. I thought he was being arrogant.”

“Bellatrix is an abominable woman. How could you claim anything given to you by her?” Sirius still sounded furious.

“That is precisely why I didn’t claim it. But given I’m trapped in the past I thought it prudent. Our position is tenuous and any advantage we can take right now, needs to be taken.” Draco said snootily. Harry was starting to get annoyed at the bickering between the two purebloods.

“You two. Stop fighting. Please. We should go find the house the goblins said would be best. And we need to buy baby things ready for little Harry. And Draco… we need to sort the plan out for you and your mother. If we’re going to get them away from Lucius, we’re going to have to do this right. There is no one but Sirius to fight for little Harry, not including Dumbledore, but if Lucius doesn’t get sent to Azkaban you know he’ll fight to get you back.”

“I know Harry.” Draco said, sounding both fearful and resigned. It reminded Harry a little too much of the bathroom. He looked over at Draco and took his hand to squeeze it comfortingly.

“You two make no sense.” Sirius snorted, interrupting the moment, and shaking his head at the absurdity of the situation.

“Well you try talking about the younger versions of yourself as separate entities whilst sounding sane.” Draco snapped. Harry looked at Draco pointedly and Draco rolled his eyes. Harry glared.

“Fine. Fine… Let’s shop in muggle London for the baby things. I think it would be best to keep this off of people’s radars. Harry may not have anyone personally close to him but you Sirius, but as far as the public go…”

“He’s the most famous baby in the world.” Harry’s godfather admitted.

“Exactly.” Draco said superiously. Clearly pleased with both being right and Sirius agreeing with him.

“And Dumbledore wants him.” Harry sighed. “I still don’t know why he’s keeping little Harry in his office today. Why didn’t he take him to the Dursley’s earlier? He could have talked to my Aunt and explained rather than leaving me on the doorstep overnight. It seems odd.”

“It’s very odd. Even for the old fool.” Draco smugly snorted.

“Dumbledore isn’t an old fool!” Sirius all but shouted.

Harry was feeling exasperated. He was tired and this was a bizarre situation for all three of them. He could do without the fighting. “Siri. Dumbledore knew from at least when I got my first Hogwarts letter that my home life was abusive. It was addressed to the cupboard under the stairs. I trusted him for a long time. He was one of the first adults who didn’t treat me like I was something filthy they stepped in and was dirtying their shoes. But even when I pleaded, he sent me back to the home where I wasn’t fed and was locked up. Where being hit was something I expected. I begged him not to send me back there and he still did. When you died, he finally told me the prophesy about me and Voldemort. He said he’d kept it from me to preserve my childhood. The thing is, thanks to him, I never had a childhood. There was nothing to preserve and if he’d just told me, you might not have died. He may be a great man to you. He was to me for a long time. But then I grew up and realised that for all the good he might have done, he was still the man who forced me to go back to the Dursley’s year after year. No blood protection was worth that. Nothing was worth that.”

“Harry….” Draco whispered and pulled Harry into his arms.

“It’s fine Draco. You can’t change it. None of it is your fault.”

“I know… I just…. The whole world was told you lived this amazing life with a loving family who spoiled you rotten. That’s what Dumbledore spread around. And you…”

“I know… But little Harry isn’t going to live that awful life. He is going to grow up loved with Siri and with us. And little you isn’t going to have all of that pureblood shit shoved down his throat, or have to watch his mum being hurt by his father. We can make sure it’s better this time. It will be better for both of us this time.”

For the merlin knows what time, Sirius was stunned into silence by the two boys with their fantastical tale, that despite all misgivings and his beliefs to the contrary, they kept on proving was true.

___________________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I noticed something that amused me far too much when writing this chapter. I did originally have Harry and Draco doing their clothes shopping the day they came back until I looked up what day of the week it was, and realised that it wouldn't be possible. It did however make me laugh when I realised JKR didn't recognise the same problem and had Vernon going to work his office job on the 1st of November 1981.


	3. The Second Rescue Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry, Draco and Sirius kidnap baby Harry from the Dursleys' doorstep.

After Harry confessed his distrust of Dumbledore, along with the truth about his childhood, Sirius was in no fit state for shopping. Instead he disapparated them from the nearest deserted alleyway, to a small flat in Bloomsbury. On arrival he grabbed out his cigarettes and lit up, poured himself a large drink. The flat, it turned out, was where Sirius lived. Harry could practically see Draco biting his tongue to stop himself deriding the way the Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble house of Black was living. To be honest, Harry was a little appalled too. The place was a bit of a dump and reeked of stale cigarette smoke, and there was a collection of empties littered around the place. If Harry had to guess, Sirius had come back here after finding his best friends dead and tried to drink away his sorrows, before seeking his revenge. Sirius was probably still drunk when Harry had stopped him from acting out that ill-fated mission. Harry was glad that Draco managed to not say anything overly critical within Sirius’ hearing. He didn’t think he could stand another round of bickering and biting comments. Harry and Draco extracted a promise from Sirius that he would stay put and not try and go after Pettigrew again, whilst they went shopping without him. Unfortunately, the two of them hadn’t realised something very important when they headed back out into central London. Sundays in 1981 were not the same as in the late 1990s. There was nothing open. In the end they managed to find a chemist that was open, so at least they were able to pick up the essentials for baby care; nappies, bottles, and milk - but Draco wasn’t happy that they hadn’t been able to buy any new clothes for either themselves or baby Harry. Harry had to promise him they would go the next day to stop the sulking. Hopefully, Sirius would lend them some clothes in the meantime. Not that the punk look Sirius sported was exactly to his taste – he never understood the whole safety pin thing, but their current outfits had now been worn for nearly a day, and the freshening charms Draco cast on them, only did so much.

It was obvious that Sirius had been drinking hard whilst they were out, and they found him snoring on the sofa. Deciding to leave him be, Harry and Draco went to go and put the limited amount they were able to buy away and set things up for baby Harry. 

“Why are we staying here, rather than heading straight to one of the estates? It isn’t safe here. Also it’s disgusting.” Draco said with a grimace, when they had dumped their things in the empty room they’d found.

“Because Sirius…”

“We don’t need him.” Draco interrupted, scowling at the passed-out man on the sofa. “We’ve prevented him going to Azkaban. Isn’t that enough?”

“I want baby Harry to grow up knowing his godfather though.” Harry didn’t know quite why it was so important. It just felt that way to him.

“Right now he doesn’t seem stable. He’s just lost his best friends. And then on top of it he gets two accidental time travellers sprung upon him.”

“I get that…”

“Harry, we need somewhere that no one will ever expect us to take little Harry. For the moment it will need to be in England, but as soon as we have mother and baby me, I think we should leave the country. There is a beautiful Malfoy estate in mountains in Switzerland. I used to love holidays there as a child. I think we should go there. Until then, we should go with the Goblin’s suggestion and use the Cheltenham flat from the Potter estate. You can erect wards there that will keep anyone you don’t want out of the place. I can show you how. We won’t keep Sirius from seeing little Harry, but I think for the moment we need to leave him to his grief and confusion.”

“What if he goes to Dumbledore? If we kidnap little Harry without him, the first thing he’ll do is go to the headmaster and tell him all about us.”

“Shit…”

“We need to keep him with us until we can trust he has ours’ and baby Harry’s best interests in mind as far as keeping our secret is concerned. And keeping baby Harry out of the Dursley’s hands. I don’t trust that Dumbledore won’t try and force baby Harry to stay there no matter what. It’s what he did to me.”

Draco pondered what Harry had said before responding. “So we take Sirius with us to the Potter place and leave him to sleep the drink off there. We can talk to him later about what role he wants to play. But if he puts either us or little Harry at risk, I won’t hesitate to obliviate him and leave him to his grief. We’ll leave the country if that happens and no one will see us, or little Harry again. I’m sure mother will be on board if we have to do that, so it would just be a matter of timing.”

“Okay.” Harry agreed. It was probably the best he was going to get. Besides, he liked how protective Draco was over him and his younger self. Still… “But we give him a chance before we resort to that.”

They quickly gathered the stuff they’d put down back up and went about sorting everything else they’d need for their change in location. Harry felt very uncomfortable going into his 21-year-old godfather’s bedroom in order to pack a few days’ worth of clothes for the man. At least it was vaguely cleaner and tidier in here than the sitting room. Draco had no such issue, and quickly found gathered together some stuff. They then went back to the living room and took hold of the asleep and snoring Sirius. Draco apparated the three of them to apparatation coordinates given as closest to the flat they had chosen. Once they’d claimed the flat, the goblin had assured them they would be able to enter the flat directly. Surprisingly the drunk Animagus didn’t even stir. God only knew how far into his cups he’d had to get to remain unaware that he’d been apparated. Sirius remaining unconscious did mean that Harry and Draco had to haul the man up the stairs in the building. But at least the man wasn’t stumbling, complaining, and more likely than not given the state he’d gotten himself into, vomiting. Thankfully, they didn’t meet anyone on the way. Neither really wanted to explain why they were dragging the unconscious man. The flat was the penthouse in an old regency building overlooking a large park with a lake. Harry looked out of the window when they reached the topflight of stairs and wondered whether there would be pedalos there in the summer. He’d always wanted to do that as a child but had never been allowed. If they stayed in this place longer than Draco planned, then maybe he would have a chance to find out. When they entered the flat itself, they were, to Harry’s surprise, greeted by a young-looking house elf. 

“Master Potter. Tawly is very glads to be having you and your guests come and stay here.”

“Urrr… Thanks…uuhh… Tawly.” Harry replied, feeling a little awkward. House elves were not something he was particularly used to, and his experience thus far had been a very mixed bag between Winky, Dobby and Kreacher.

“Is Master Potter needing anything from Tawly.”

Harry looked over at Draco. Harry really wasn’t sure what to do. Draco saw his distress and took over for him.

“We need a room to place our companion.” Draco looked at Sirius, with a mildly disdainful expression, who they were holding up between the two of them. “Also a room set up for a baby and two rooms set up near the baby’s nursery for each of us. All of our things, and things for the baby, are in this bag. Sirius’ things are in this one.” Draco said to the elf. The elf looked towards Harry and Harry nodded quickly in agreement. The elf disappeared with Sirius and their things, presumably to get all the rooms set up and place Sirius somewhere where he could sleep off the drink and the shock.

“What’s the time, Draco?” Harry asked when they were alone and seated in the open plan living area. 

“It’s 5pm. Merlin I’m tired. We’ve been awake for nearly a day.”

“I know. But we can’t sleep yet. We only have a few hours before we need to get back to Privet Drive.”

“We should get the wards on this place set up. It shouldn’t take long. Then I think we should nap for an hour. We can get Tawly to wake us.”

“Okay.” Harry yawned. Rest sounded far too appealing right now.

Harry was surprised at how easy it was to set up the wards so that only he and Draco could come and go from the flat. It made him question the importance of the blood protection that he’d relied on from his Mother to keep him safe at the Dursleys. That wasn’t something he wanted to think about now. He had enough to be angry at Dumbledore about without adding this to the mix. When Sirius was awake, they’d need to add him so that he could leave. Draco wasn’t sure about letting the other man come and go freely, but Harry wouldn’t trap his godfather here. Sirius had spent months trapped in Grimmauld place and had hated it. Harry just couldn’t do it to him, no matter the risk of Sirius betraying them. He didn’t really think Sirius would betray them anyway. At least he hoped that his godfather wouldn’t. They went and found the rooms that had been set up for them. Rather than going to lie down in their separate rooms, however, they both laid down on the bed in Harry’s, still dressed, and fell asleep on top of the covers. Draco had set an alarm, as well as requesting that Tawly wake them at 6.30pm.

When they woke, they found Sirius pacing the flat like a caged animal.

“Why are we in the Cheltenham flat? And why can’t I leave?” Sirius snapped the second he saw them.

“Because we didn’t want to stay anywhere Dumbledore thought it likely someone could take baby Harry. We don’t think it’s probable that he’ll notice for a while that Harry isn’t at the Dursleys, but we didn’t want to risk it.” Harry answered calmly.

“And why can’t I leave.”

“I had Harry set up the blood protection wards. You were asleep.” Draco said, as if Sirius was being supremely stupid for having not worked it out. It was a tone Draco had used with Harry all too often.

“We can key you in now.” Harry added in a hurry, trying to avoid the fight that would inevitably happen if he left Draco and Sirius to it.

“Yes. But you have to promise not to tell anyone about us. And you cannot let anyone know about little Harry once we have him.” Draco glared at Sirius when he said this.

“I need to tell Moony.”

“Moony?” Draco questioned and looked at Harry confused. Harry thought about it for a moment. He wondered about whether it was really sensible to invite more people in on their secret. Then he remembered the ragged professor he’d first seen on the train. He had obviously had a hard life over the previous 12 years. He’d lost all of his friends in a 24-hour period as well as having to deal with the discrimination of being a werewolf. He quickly added Remus to his mental list of people they could save.

“You can tell Remus.” Then realising Draco would probably not know who Harry meant turned to the blond and added “Professor Lupin.” He waited for the nod of acknowledgment, which came only after a raised eyebrow from the blonde, before facing Sirius again and continuing what he had been saying. “You’ll probably have to convince him that you weren’t the secret keeper. In all likeliness there will be Aurors out looking for you as we speak. And you will have to wait until we have baby Harry here safely. Okay.” This was non-negotiable. Getting Harry out was the priority for tonight. “We’re leaving to go get him now. We don’t know how late we’ll be exactly. We’re not sure exactly what time Harry gets left on the doorstep.”

“I’m still not sure I believe you when you say Dumbledore is just going to leave Harry on a doorstep in the middle of the night in November.”

“Then come with us. Let Harry prove he knows his life history better than you know the headmaster. You can see for yourself when the old man you worship dumps your godson outside a muggle house. You just have to stay silent and not interfere.” Draco responded, sounding more than a little annoyed. He and Sirius were able to rub each other up the wrong way far too easily. Dealing with that wasn’t Harry’s priority for the moment. Mostly he was thinking about how he’d earned Draco’s trust so implicitly in less than a day. He clearly had though. He also couldn’t believe how happy he was that he had the other boy on his side. Draco was the only person right now who could actually understand a minutia of what he was going through. Harry decided it didn’t matter how these incongruities occurred. It was just important that they had.

Draco apparated the three of them back to the park in Little Whinging where they first woke up in this time. Sirius disillusioned himself, as did Draco. Harry put his invisibility cloak on. They quietly made their way to Privet drive. 

“Is that McGonagall sat on that wall?” Draco whispered when they’d found themselves a good location to wait and he spotted the stiff looking cat sat on a wall outside number 4.

“I think so.” Harry replied. “It certainly looks like her Animagus. And cats don’t normally sit that rigidly. I didn’t know she knew about me being left like this.” Draco reached and squeezed his hand. It was comforting. He thought he could trust his head of house, despite her not listening to him about the stone, or Umbridge, or various other things over the years. She still seemed like a good woman. Seeing her here and complicit with the abandonment of himself as a baby made him doubt that. He didn’t really want to talk about it though. The warm hand in his was enough for the time being. After everything said between them over the last day, and the way they were working together to try and change things for both of them, he knew Draco would be there for him should he decide to discuss it later. Non-judgemental and accepting of whatever Harry’s thoughts and feeling were about this revelation.

“How long do you think we have to wait?” Sirius interrupted Harry’s thoughts.

“No idea.” 

They remained silent after that. Waiting and watching the house. At 11.40 pm they the headmaster come round the corner. Even in the dim light of the streetlamps he couldn’t be mistaken for anyone else. He approached the house with the cat sat outside. They saw an amused twitch on the old man’s lips when he spotted the cat. Then he got something out of his robes and the streetlamps went out one by one. It made it very hard to see what was happening. They were able to tell when McGonagall changed from cat to human, but not much else. They also couldn’t hear what the two of them were saying. Harry wished he had one of Fred and George’s extendable ears to hand. A rumbling sound came from the sky and they spotted a light coming towards them.

“That’s my bike.” Sirius whispered. “I gave it to Hagrid when he insisted on taking Harry with him from Godric’s hollow.”

“How did Hagrid get into Godric’s hollow. Pettigrew is still alive. Shouldn’t the fideleous have held? Or did he already have the secret?” Draco asked with obvious curiosity.

“I’m not sure.” Sirius said, slowly. It wasn’t something he’d had a chance to think about with everything else that had gone on since that moment. “I don’t think he had the secret. Maybe whatever happened there broke the charm.” He speculated.

“We should check. There may also be some things in the place that are salvageable.” Draco responded, clearly thinking over the practicalities of the situation. Harry didn’t want to buy into the conspiracy theory Draco seemed to be leaning towards, but he had to admit he was curious too. He didn’t really want to see the destruction of the house, or where his parents died, but the idea that there may still be items there that belonged to him or his parents was too tempting.

“You mean there might be things of my parents left there. I never had anything of my parents until the cloak. I’ve never had anything of my mother’s.”

“Then we’ll go. But not just yet. You and Sirius should be able to get in even if the fideleus is still there. And if I can’t find the place then we know the charm is still active.”

“You’re pretty smart for a Malfoy.” Sirius snorted quietly.

“Shhhh… I think they’re leaving.” Harry said, shutting up the two others quickly. 

They watched as Hagrid took to the sky again. Then McGonagall transformed and padded away, leaving just Dumbledore stood there for several minutes. They watched the streetlights come back on and Dumbledore walk away, leaving the sleeping baby on the doorstep.

“They’re gone.” Harry whispered. “Do I just…?”

“Just walk up to the house and take him Harry.” Draco encouraged. Sirius just looked stunned by what he’d seen. But then, Harry supposed, his godfather really hadn’t truly believed them when they said what Dumbledore was going to do. He would probably be shocked into open mouthed silence too, if he were in Sirius’ position. Even knowing that this was what was going to happen, it was still a little shocking.

Harry slowly walked up to the house, remaining under the cloak. When he reached the doorstep, he looked down at the sleeping infant in the basket. He picked the basket up, almost expecting Dumbledore to jump out and shout ‘got you’ the second he did. He paused for several long moments. Waiting for something to go wrong. When nothing happened, he walked back towards where his companions were waiting.

“He doesn’t even have a warming charm on him.” Draco said, examining the basket when Harry got there. “It may not be freezing out, but it’s not bloody warm and he’s a baby.”

“Dumbledore really did it then.” Sirius said flatly.

“We told you. Let’s get back to the flat. We can talk properly there. And read the letter he left for my Aunt.”

Little Harry woke with the apparition and the trio spent the next half an hour trying to calm him down. Eventually he fell asleep on Draco’s chest after a bottle. Harry had been peed on when he changed little Harry’s nappy whilst the Sirius and Draco argued over the best way to warm the milk, which both Draco and Sirius found hilarious, although Harry not so much. With the baby asleep again, they turned their attention to the letter. Harry and Sirius sat and read it together. Draco had to chastise Sirius, and remind him about the sleeping baby, when started shouting and ranting as soon as he had finished reading. Harry just sat there in stunned silence. Dumbledore had told the Dursley’s to keep him in the dark about magic. He had threatened them in order to get them to keep him. Draco passed sleeping baby Harry over to Sirius when he saw Harry go pale with the shock of it. Harry felt the warm arms wrap around him and he returned the hug. He started sobbing on Draco’s shoulder. Tear stained clothes seemed to be a staple of this too long and very confusing day. He’d been torn from excited to overwhelmed, to wracked with fear and depression more times than anyone could realistically cope with in such a short period of time.

“Why…? Why did he do it?”

“Shhhhh… Harry, it’s all okay. You’re not there now. You’re never going back there. Little Harry will never go there. We will keep him safe. I promise we’ll keep him safe.”

The one good thing to come from Dumbledore’s letter, was that Sirius had gone from being suspicious of the two of them, to distrust bordering on hatred for the old headmaster, fast enough to give them minor emotional whiplash. He had promised both Draco and Harry that he would do everything in his power to keep them and little Harry safe. It not only pleased Harry that he had his godfather on their side but made things a lot easier. They didn’t need to use the contingency plan to escape Sirius, and Sirius was able to help them look after the baby. The three of them actually muddled together with taking care of the baby pretty well. With Sirius firmly in their corner, Draco and Harry felt they could trust him enough to leave little Harry alone with him. It meant that the two of them were able to pop out to Diagon and grab some wizarding things they needed. Including an owl, a subscription to the prophet, and most importantly, a wand that Harry could use without the trace on it. They thought there was a good chance that the trace on both Harry and Draco’s wands from Ollivander’s wouldn’t break until little Harry and Draco turned 17, so both were pretty useless. Draco took Harry to the same shop that he’d been taken to, to get his first wand, and they quickly got Harry a new wand made. In fact they decided to get two, and Draco got a second one he could use as well. Harry had learned the risks of losing his wand in a fight the hard way. Had it not been for Voldemort’s arrogance, he would never have escaped the graveyard. They would leave the Hawthorn and Holly wands in Gringotts the first chance they got. Those wands belonged to their old lives. They were a reminder of the future both of them were working to prevent.

It also meant, to Draco’s delight, that they were able to go clothes shopping. Shopping in muggle London with Draco was an interesting experience, to say the least. They had decided to limit their time in the wizarding areas to only absolute essentials until they had credible fake identities. Harry wondered why they didn’t just shop in Cheltenham and get the whole process over and done with quickly, but that would not do for his blond companion. Draco insisted on the absolute best of everything for little Harry. Things that Harry couldn’t have pictured Aunt Petunia ever buying for him. Not that he thought she ever bought anything for him. He spent his life in Dudley’s hand me downs. Worn and too big. Never anything new, and certainly never anything of the cost and quality Draco bought. They also bought new wardrobes for the two of them. Draco had complained and whined far too much about wearing an outfit of Sirius’ that morning, to put off new wardrobes for the two of them for very long. Harry found he really enjoyed watching Draco get excited over baby things and muggle clothes. Finding clothes Draco would actually wear was interesting. He kept on insisting everything was out of date and unfashionable. Harry had never realised that Draco and about half of the Slytherin girls had a thing for muggle fashion. That there was an underground trade in fashion magazines that was kept secret from all of their parents. Draco had never actually been able to just shop for muggle clothes before though. He’d always just been put in something his parents deemed appropriate when he’d been around muggles when he was younger. Before Draco asked for something that wasn’t around yet, Harry bought him a few magazines to look through and things went much smoother after that. Draco was in his element, even going so far as to buy a bunch of makeup to try out, though Harry was slightly baffled as to why. Harry didn’t really care for fashion. All he cared for was that he had something that fit to wear. If Draco got his way both Harry and little Harry were going to be fashion icons. Harry was feeling very grateful by the time they finished for the undetectable extension and featherlight charms on his school rucksack. There was no way they’d have been able to carry everything they’d purchased without it. 

The day’s, therefore, were fine, but at night both Harry and Draco were plagued with nightmares. Every night one of them would end up waking and crawling into the other’s bed. It made Sirius wonder exactly what the two young men had been put through over the years, and made him very grateful that they were here with him, despite how ridiculous the whole situation was. It wasn’t just because of what they told him about the future they’d saved him from personally, either. Nor the delight he took in looking after little Harry, who despite the upheaval and trauma of the loss of his parents, was still a delightfully happy baby most of the time. He hoped little Harry would never have to experience any of the awful things Harry’s nightmares indicated. It made him curious as to what Draco had experienced too. The blond boy was growing on him, even if he also irritated the life out him. He reminded Sirius a bit of his little brother, Regulus. Sirius made it his mission to look after the two of them alongside little Harry. He may not be the most responsible guardian in the world. But he knew that having a family that cared was to be treasured, and blood was not in the least important in determining who one’s family actually were.


	4. Narcissa Malfoy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucius is finally taken in for questioning and Harry and Draco stage their next rescue mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There are mentions of both past domesitic abuse and child abuse in this chapter.

The news of Lucius Malfoy’s arrest came on the 7th of November. They’d been in the past a week. A week of strange music, odd fashion, and Draco’s very bizarre fascination with the muggle Royal Family. He’d been far too excited at the announcement of the Princess Diana’s pregnancy a couple of days ago. Sirius had been rather excited at that too, but for very different reasons to Draco, and had immediately gone into town and put a rather large bet on his “prediction” for the baby’s name and date of birth. Draco had been to the Prince’s 8th birthday party and remembered the date to Harry’s astonishment. They’d gone to the same primary school – although Draco called it prep school, although only for the one year as Draco had left to go to Hogwarts the year after the Prince had started. Harry hadn’t realised little pure bloods went to school with muggles. He’d assumed they’d all be home tutored until they went to Hogwarts. According to Draco though, although he did receive more than his fair share of tutoring, and several of his friends were tutored exclusively, his father was adamant about him learning to socialise with the elite in society. There weren’t any pre-Hogwarts schools for witches and wizards, hence Ludgrove. Besides, as Draco had told him, the Malfoy family had intermarried with the Royal family more than once over the centuries. Unlike the Blacks, they occasionally diversified to avoid some of the worst consequences of inbreeding, and the Royals were rich, powerful and squibs, rather than muggles, which as per the ever so slightly hypocritical law according to Lucius Malfoy, were perfectly acceptable marriage material to branch out to every few generations. Not to mention a politically wise move. Harry he was learning an awful lot about Draco that he’d never even considered before they’d ended up in the past. Draco was learning just as much about Harry.

They’d planned for this moment much more carefully than rescuing Sirius or little Harry. It was much riskier for a start, and if it went wrong Lucius Malfoy could pose a very real threat to the little life they were carving out and planning for themselves. Harry and Draco each kissed little Harry on the head before they left, leaving the baby with Sirius. Draco apparated them both to the gates of the Manor. Harry watched as Draco pricked his finger on the gate and it swung open.

“That’s the blood ward keeping mother and me in here down. We can apparate up to the main house now. It’s a bloody long way to walk.”

Harry took Draco’s arm to allow himself to be apparated. He hated the horrible squeezing feeling, and it was definitely worse as a side along than doing it himself, but although he could apparate, he couldn’t do so within the Manor. Harry had to admit the Manor was beautiful and impressive. Seeing it, especially alongside some of the other revelations about Draco’s upbringing, made him understand his friend’s high and mighty attitude from when they first met. He was used to having the best of everything. Except for the things that really mattered. But he’d been taught as well as Harry not to talk about the less than savoury aspects of his homelife. Talking would result in not being believed at best, and punishment at worst. It was only when he found himself in a desperate situation, did he even consider speaking about it. And that wasn’t so much a decision as an uncontrolled outpouring. He was just lucky he’d found a kindred spirit in Harry. When they walked in the main entrance, they were greeted by a house elf. A house elf that both Draco and Harry knew well.

“Master Draco.” The elf squeaked with a small bow.

“Hello, Dobby. Is there any chance you can tell us where Mother is?” Draco replied to the little excitable elf.

“Of course Master Draco. She is in the nursery with the little Master. She is quite ill though and Mister Severus isn’t here to give her the potions. I is doing my best to help but…” Harry thought he’d seen Dobby look distressed before, but this was heart breaking. He wasn’t even trying to hurt himself, just tugging at his ears and an expression that seemed to say that the world was ending.

“That’s quite all right, Dobby. We’ll see to her. Come on Harry. The nursery is this way.”

Harry followed Draco feeling shocked. He couldn’t believe Dobby was really here. The same elf with his insane plans to help Harry. The elf he’d freed from Lucius Malfoy at the end of his second year.

“Urr… I’ve been meaning to ask you something, Draco.” Harry had been a little confused about Tawly and his immediate understanding of who Harry was, but had put it out of his mind. Seeing Dobby do the same thing was even more bizarre. “I thought it was a little odd when Tawly just accepted me as Master Potter, and little Harry as the young master without questioning. But Dobby seems to have just done the same thing with you. He knew who you were.”

“House elf magic. It’s a little odd. But it’s linked to the family and the family tree.”

“Is that why Kreacher never liked or properly obeyed Sirius then? He was blasted off the family tree even though he was the head of the house. The only male Black of the name living.”

“Probably. Also if Siri never took up his family ring in our time then that wouldn’t have helped either.”

“It seems weird seeing Dobby without clothes. I sort of got used to his eclectic fashion sense.”

“He used to make me the best hot chocolates.” Draco said with fond nostalgia. “And he always asked after mother once he started working at Hogwarts. He was my favourite elf. I was pretty upset when you tricked father into freeing him. He was probably my best friend in this place….” Draco paused and when Harry looked over at him, he looked decidedly guilty, although for what reason, Harry couldn’t guess.

“I didn’t realise… I assumed you were awful to him….” Harry said sheepishly. Draco may be his friend now, but a lot of his old assumptions about the blond who used to bully him were still there in his head.

“Like father you mean…” Draco sounded very tense.

“Yeah… I’m sorry for… I know better now, but you were a right git to me up until extremely recently. You stomped on my face and broke my nose 8 months ago.”

“I am sorry about all of that. You do know that. Right?”

Harry reached and took Draco’s hand, in what was becoming a very familiar gesture of comfort and friendship between the two of them.

“I know. I’m sorry about everything as well. I much prefer being your friend. I don’t know how I would have coped if I’d been thrown back here by myself.”

“Same.”

The walked in awkward silence for another minute or so. Their hands remained clasped together with fingers interlinked, however.

“So… I have a bit of a confession about Dobby.” Draco said breaking the silence. Harry raised his eyebrow in puzzlement. 

“Yeah… I was the one who sent him to you in second year. I knew what Father had planned and I didn’t want you to be hurt.”

“You do know Dobby kind of sucked at protecting me.” Harry replied with a mildly exasperated chuckle.

“Yeah, well, I was 12 and my planning skills were rather lacking. I just told him to keep you away from Hogwarts and not let you or anyone else know you’d been sent by me. Everything else was on him.”

Harry snorted. He couldn’t help himself. At the time Dobby’s antics had been more than a little inconvenient but looking back it was sort of amusing. The half-baked planning of a pre-teen Draco and a slightly insane house elf. 

“Ah… the nursery.” Draco interrupted before Harry could say anything else.

“Finally.” Harry sighed. It had taken them the best part of 15 minutes to make their way here from the front entrance.

Draco opened the door cautiously and Harry followed close behind. Sat on a chair in the corner of the room with a baby in her arms was Narcissa Malfoy. She looked nothing like the snooty woman Harry remembered from the world cup. And it wasn’t the age difference that gave this impression. This woman’s face was bruised and swollen but she was looking down at the small boy in her arms with such love that it made Harry hurt a little. Harry wished that he could have had that. Narcissa didn’t even notice them, she was so wrapped up in baby in her arms. Draco looked utterly bewildered for a second. Harry gave the hand clasped in his, a gentle squeeze of encouragement. Draco looked at him in gratitude before very purposefully coughed, causing Narcissa to look up. Harry recognised the wide-eyed panic in her eyes. It was the same panic he felt whenever Vernon had come back from the pub in a foul mood. 

“Lucius… I’m sorry. Please. Let me put him down. I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” Narcissa Malfoy tried to stand, but before she could Draco spoke.

“Mother… I’m not Father.” Draco said, walking slowly towards the frightened woman.

“Please… Just don’t hurt Draco…. Please.” Narcissa was too frightened to even register what Draco was saying. She knew Lucius would come home furious after being arrested. Since the Dark Lord disappeared he’d been worse than ever. She wished she could leave, but not without Draco, and Lucius would never let her take their son from him. So she had to stay. She had to protect her baby.

“Mother… I am Draco.” Narcissa looked properly and realised for the first time that this might not be Lucius. The person kneeling in front of her with an expression on his face that Lucius would never wear, was younger and his eyes were wrong. She stopped shaking and tried to listen to what he was saying. “I know this doesn’t make any sense but me and my friend have come to take you and little Draco away from Father. I don’t want little Draco to grow up watching him hurt you like I did. I… I know it’s hard to believe. But… If you stay… if you let Father manipulate his way out of going to Azkaban like he deserves. Your baby is going to be forced to do this at 16.” Draco slowly rolled up his left sleeve, showing his mother the Dark Mark. Narcissa was confused. She had seen that disgusting mark enough times on bother her sister and husband to know what it was. Why was this stranger, who definitely appeared to be a Malfoy, even if he wasn’t Lucius, telling her that unless she left her baby would end up with that ugly thing?

“Mother. I need you to be strong and stand up to father. I know you can do it. You were always strong enough to protect me from Father when I was little, but if you don’t do this for me now, then there will be a day where you can’t protect me. Where I come from the Dark Lord is back… He’s living here in the Manor. So is Aunt Bella. I’ve been held under the cruciatus curse by both of them. They threatened you and made me take the mark. They gave me an impossible mission that I was meant to fail. They were going to torture and kill both of us. Mother… Please…. Bring little Draco away from here.” Despite the awful things Draco was confessing, he stayed calm, and Harry had to give him credit for that. He’d been nowhere near as calm explaining to Sirius. Narcissa was in turmoil. This boy was calling her mother but her only child was Draco. Draco was the only child she would ever have thanks to Lucius.

“What then…? He’ll find us…”

“Then you will testify that he worked willingly for the Dark Lord. That he was never under the Imperius. You will tell them how he hits you and leaves you half-dead and covered in bruises. I know if it wasn’t for Severus you would never have managed this far. I can brew healing potions for you. But I need you to go to the Ministry. The head of the Black family is willing to take both you and little Draco into his protection. We have a safe place where no one can get to us. As soon as Lucius has been convicted I can take over as head of the family and he will never be able to get to your baby. I promise mother…. Please believe me…”

“Who are you really…? “She looked down at the little boy sleeping on her lap, then back up at the older version of her son.

“I’m Draco. Draco Lucius Malfoy. Your son. That baby in your arms grows up to be me. Or he will if you don’t take him away from Lucius… Look… Here’s the ring I went and got when I was 15.” Draco showed his mother the heir ring. “And…I dropped the blood wards so I could get in and you and little Draco can leave. Only me and Father could do that…. And… Dobby.” Draco called out and the elf popped into the room.

“Yes, Master Draco.”

“Can you pack my Mother’s and little Draco’s things. We’re leaving the Manor for the time being. Hopefully we’ll be back in a few weeks. Will you and the other elves be okay here? My father should not be returning.”

“Of course Master Draco. We will be looking after your Manor for you. We is hoping that yous will be taking over the household very soon.”

“So do I, Dobby. Maybe when I do, I can assign you as little Draco’s personal elf. I would have you as my own, but I have a feeling you’d prefer to help with the baby. Especially when you meet a person I very much hope will be his new friend.” Draco reached back and took Harry’s hand again as he said this, and Harry squeezed tight. “Mother… come with us. Everything will be alright if you come with us.”

Narcissa Malfoy stood up. It was painful for her to do so. But she was used to pain and more than a little determined. She kept a tight hold on the baby in her arms. 

“Mother…” Draco nearly sounded like he was going to cry. He didn’t even stand up from his kneeling position before wrapping his arms around her, which resulted in him hugging her knees. She stroked the top of his head, running her fingers though the silky blonde hair.

“Draco… It’s really you…” Tears were stinging Narcissa’s eyes. She couldn’t believe it. Her baby all grown up and here to save her. To take her away from this awful house and its bastard of a Master.

“It’s really me…” Draco sniffed. “Now come on. Let’s get out of here.”

_________________________

Dobby had taken Narcissa and little Draco’s things back to the flat in Cheltenham and had left before they arrived. 

“You go lie down mother. I’m going to go and brew you some healing potions. Harry and Sirius will look after little Draco. He can play with little Harry. He should be waking from his nap about now.”

“Little Harry?” Narcissa asked. Draco had introduced his mother to his Harry whilst they were making their way out of the Manor. She seemed to accept that he was the sixteen-year-old version of the boy-who-lived pretty well. Draco supposed if she accepted that he was her son from the future anyone else along for the ride wasn’t too out of the realms of possibility. What they had forgotten to explain was there kidnapping of the infant boy who lived.

“You and little Draco aren’t the only ones we’ve rescued. We’re in a Potter residence right now.” Harry started to explain, although he felt a little uneasy and around Draco’s mother. She seemed perfectly nice, but just not what he was used to. Not that he was really used to anything much on the mother front. Mrs Weasley was the only example he had, and Narcissa Malfoy wad nothing like the plump and amiable woman he remembered helping him onto the platform when he was 11 welcoming him into the family with a Christmas present just because he was Ron’s friend. 

“Harry and I, and Cousin Sirius and little Harry have been here for a week. We were just waiting for Father to be out of the way to come and get you and little Draco. There is a room already set up for you. We’ve put a second cot in little Harry’s room for little Draco, although we can move it to your room if you’d prefer mother.”

“Very well then. I’m sure the cot in little Harry’s room will serve Draco just….”

“Boy’s you’re back.” Sirius exclaimed, interrupting Narcissa, as he walked in with a very sleepy looking little Harry in his arms. Sirius had clearly just got him out of bed. His hair was a tangled mess and the green baby grow he was in looked rumpled. “Cousin Cissa, I’m so glad you’re here. Draco was getting very impatient about getting you.”

“Sirius. It’s…” Narcissa started, but again was cut off by Sirius talking over her. He may have been her favourite cousin when they were little but his manners left a lot to be desired.

“I know… it’s all very confusing with our two time-travellers here, but once you’ve had some rest, I’ll make sure they explain it all to you properly. Your son will be completely safe with me and Harry… and Harry.”

“Come on Mother…” Draco said gently and eased the baby out of her arms and passed him over to Harry. Narcissa felt very apprehensive about handing over her baby. He always screamed whenever anyone who wasn’t herself or his godfather held him before. She was surprised when he didn’t. Knowing that her little boy felt safe enough with Harry not to bellow the house down, she followed the older version of her son out of the room. Without Severus around to treat her she was really feeling the effects of the latest beating Lucius had given her. Draco said he could help, and if she couldn’t trust her own son, who could she trust.

Harry looked down at little Draco, who was also just waking. He was very sweet with his white-blond hair and blue grey eyes. The toddler snuggled into him warmly.

“Come on little Draco. You can meet little me. Maybe you and him won’t have to go through everything me and the older version of you had to, to become friends.” Then turning to Sirius. “Is there anything for lunch…? I think little Draco will probably be hungry.”

“Tawly should have something ready. He was very excited to hear that there would be another baby coming when I told him this morning. He already dotes so much on little Harry.”

“Tawly.” Harry called.

“Yes, Master Potter.”

“I’ve told you to call me Harry.”

“Of course Master Harry.” Harry supposed that was as good as it was going to get.

“Is lunch ready?”

“Yes, Master Harry.”

“Good. Could you please lay the table for me and Sirius. As well as little Harry and little Draco. Draco’s mother isn’t very well and will be in her room. I’d appreciate it if you brought her a tray of something.”

“And Mister Draco?”

“I think he’s going to be spending some time making potions. He’ll probably forget to eat.”

“Well, that won’t do at all. I will bring him some food as well.”

“Thank you, Tawly.” Harry said, smiling. The elf was always trying to mother him and Draco. Saying they were both too thin. Draco with his year of severe depression and constant anxiety, and Harry with his years of abuse and starvation had taken their toll on both of their bodies. It also didn’t help that neither of them were too good at remembering to eat.

____________________

Lunch was a relatively messy affair with Sirius helping feed little Harry, and Harry with little Draco. Little Harry somehow managed to get food in his hair, and Harry had to laugh at the toddler’s antics and refusal to let Sirius help him. Little Draco was quiet and quite happy to let Harry feed him. In fact, he seemed pretty reluctant to try and eat on his own. The rest of the afternoon was spent with Harry watching the two very different babies. Sirius had gone to his room. He was better than he’d been a week ago, but there were times when the grief at losing his best friend hit him and all he wanted to do was curl up in bed. He kept it together most of the time, although the drinking and chain smoking were still a bit of a problem. At least it was only when little Harry was being watched by Harry or Draco that he allowed himself to be overcome by the loss. At first, little Harry and little Draco were very wary of each other, especially Draco. But eventually Harry crawled over to the other baby and started babbling at him. Little Harry had a couple of words. Mooy and Pafoo being two of them. He was quite good at demanding ‘Pafoo play’. 

Harry couldn’t really say the two of them played together. Little Harry certainly seemed to be trying to do that, but little Draco was obviously very shy. Mostly just sitting there and watching little Harry play with his toy dog and appearing to be listening intently to the baby talk. After about an hour, little Draco started crying and calling for his mummy.

“Come on little Draco. I’ll take you to mummy. I’ll be back in a minute mini me.”

At that little Harry started to cry too, not wanting his new friend to be taken away. Harry managed to manoeuvre so he could pick up little Harry too, although it was a bit of a challenge. He ended up with one on each hip. At least both of them stopped crying once they were being held. He took them to the room where Narcissa was and hoped the woman wouldn’t be asleep. 

“Mrs Malfoy.” Harry said quietly. “Mrs Malfoy, little Draco wanted you.”

“Bring him here.” The woman said. “And you can call me Narcissa.” She added with a warm smile.

“I’ve got little Harry here as well. Would you like to meet him properly?”

“Bring them both here.” 

Harry walked to the bed where Narcissa was lying. He placed little Draco in her arms and he immediately cuddled up to his mum.

“This is little Harry.” Harry said, turning so Narcissa could see his little doppelganger properly.

“Hello, little Harry.” Narcissa said gently. “It’s very nice to meet you. I’m Narcissa. I’m Draco’s mummy.”

Little Harry shyly tucked his head into Harry’s arm. 

“He’s not usually shy.” Harry said.

“That’s okay. I’m surprised my little one here has taken to you so well. He normally kicks and screams when almost any adult apart from me comes near him.”

“Oh…”

“So you and my son are….?”

“Friends. Well, we’re friends now. We didn’t like each other very much at school, but we’ve ended up stuck in the past and… hopefully little Harry and little Draco will be close friends all along. I never had any friends growing up.”

Harry sat down on the edge of the bed and put little Harry down next to him. An arm around him protectively. 

“Cousin Sirius said you rescued little Harry.” Harry could feel the woman’s eyes scanning over every inch of him as she said this. Scrutinising him in a way that felt almost intrusive and uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to anyone paying attention to him like this. Like a mother who was worried about the health of her child. But he wanted this woman to like him. She was going to be part of their lives from now on.

“He was left on the doorstep of my muggle Aunt and Uncle. My mother’s sister and her husband. I… I didn’t have a good childhood there. I… that is, Draco and me, decided when we ended up back here, that we wouldn’t leave him there for him to end up having the same life I did. So we stole him. I don’t think anyone even knows he’s technically missing.”

“Your aunt and uncle didn’t treat you well.”

Harry winced at the frank statement. He really wansn’t used to confronting the truth of his history. But Narcissa had lived with an abusive husband. He thought she would understand. “From what Draco’s told me about Lucius, my Uncle and him seem to share a few unpleasant personality traits. Except it wasn’t my Aunt Petunia he used for a punching bag….”

“It was you.”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t anyone do anything about it? There must be dozens of magical families who would have been willing to take you.” 

“Some of it was because I thought no one would believe me. The Dursley’s made out I was a troubled child who often hurt myself with my aggressive behaviour. My teachers in primary school were always wary of me because of that. And when I did finally tell an adult, they sent me back there anyway. Dumbledore, in his infinite wisdom, decided I would be safe there. He purposefully kept all knowledge of the magical world from me. He was the one who left me on the doorstep. It was cold and little Harry was left there. If I hadn’t taken him, he would have been there all night. I was left there all night. It was only Dumbledore threatening the Dursleys that stopped them from throwing me straight back out when they found me. And when I told him I didn’t want to go back there when I was at Hogwarts and finally knew about who I was, he was the one who told me no.”

Narcissa closed her eyes for a second at this, composing herself. She was a mother. Harry may not be hers, but every inch of her screamed that she needed to look after him. He was a boy without parents. He may be nearly an adult now, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t need someone to look after him. She kept those thoughts to herself though, unsure as to how Harry would take her desire to mother him, especially if he wasn’t used to that sort of care. Tucking away both the desire to smother Harry in the love and affection he’d missed out on, as well as her anger at those who’d abused and been complicit in the abuse of this young man, behind occlumency shields, she responded calmly.

“That was very wrong of him. And them. Little Harry is very lucky to have you.”

“And little Draco is lucky to have you. My Draco is too. He loves you very much.”

“I know he wants me to testify against Lucius. But I don’t know if I can do it…”

“Mrs… Narcissa.” Harry corrected himself at the stern look Narcissa Malfoy gave him. “Draco has told me a lot about you in the last week. About how strong you are. And what an amazing mother you’ve been to him. But the one thing you never did, that he always wished, was take him away from his father. Little Harry has a second chance to grow up and have a happy childhood. Draco may not have had as hard a time as I did, but he still had to grow up seeing his father hurt his mother. That’s something that no child should have to experience. Give little Draco a second chance. Me and Draco and Sirius will all help.”

A giggle interrupted them. Without either of them noticing little Harry and little Draco had maneuvered their way towards each other. Draco seemed to have overcome a little of his shyness and was showing little Harry a stuffed Dragon, that was clearly a favourite.

“Dagon. Friend. Hawwy.” Little Draco said and handed over the toy.

Little Harry looked at it and then Draco in wonder. Then he looked sternly up at Harry, making Harry’s heart melt a little.

“Pafooo?”

Harry quickly understood what his younger self wanted and summoned the toy dog he’d been playing with earlier. Harry had seen it when he and Draco had been shopping for baby things and knew that little Harry had to have it. It looked so much like Sirius in his animagus form that little Harry had immediately named it after his godfather. Sirius had, of course, been delighted.

“Here you go Little Harry.” Harry said handing the toy over.

“Pafoo. Friend. Dwayco.” Little Harry said and gave the toy to the small blond toddler.

“This is why you should testify, Narcissa. If Lucius is released, he won’t stop until he gets little Draco back. If he’s thrown in Azkaban, Draco can take over as head of the Malfoy family and can protect little Draco. He can protect little Draco like I’m protecting little Harry.”

___________________

Harry didn’t see his Draco for the rest of the day. He knew his friend had spent the entire day brewing, only leaving to give Narcissa the potions she needed as he finished each one. Harry ended up going to bed early. Watching two toddlers was exhausting. After the breakthrough with the toys, little Harry and little Draco decided that they were inseparable. Harry had even had to put them in the same cot, little Draco hugging the toy dog and little Harry the dragon. He crawled into bed, and promptly fell asleep. Harry woke up when Draco crawled into his bed.

“Hey you… nightmare?” Harry asked sleepily.

“About father.”

“Come here.” Harry said and opened his arms for Draco to cuddle in close.

Harry stroked Draco’s soft hair. The other boy was warm in his arms. He couldn’t believe it had only been just over a week since he’d found Draco crying in the bathroom in Hogwarts. Now he was here in a house with his godfather and Draco’s mother, little Harry and Draco, and of course his Draco.

“Feels nice, my Harry.”

“Your Harry?”

“As opposed to little Harry. You are my Harry.” Draco snuggled in closer. Draco was very affectionate at times like these. When either of them had crawled into the other’s bed after waking up from whatever traumatic scene decided to infiltrate their brains as they slept.

“And you’re my Draco.” 

Draco looked up at him and Harry felt heat course through him when Draco’s eyes fixed on his.

“I’m your Draco.”

“Your mother is going to testify.” Harry said, trying to distract himself from the thoughts that were going through his head.

“She told me earlier.”

“It was little Harry and little Draco that persuaded her. They swapped toys.”

“I gave little Harry, Dagon?” Draco obviously remembered the toy from his childhood.

“Little you did. Mini-Me gave you Pafoo in return. They also refused to sleep in separate cots.”

“Just like us…”

“It’s not like we refuse to sleep in separate beds…”

“We just can’t actually sleep when we’re apart. I don’t think I slept a full night in a year before we got back here.”

“I’ve not really slept properly since the graveyard.”

“When he came back?”

“Yeah. Most of my nightmares are about that night.”

“Mine are about my father. Or getting the mark. Occasionally Aunt Bella joins the party. I think I hate those ones most.”

“She’s never getting to you again. No one is getting to you, or little Draco, to hurt you again.”

Harry hugged Draco in tighter and they eventually both managed to fall back to sleep tangled up in each other’s arms.


	5. Only Twenty-One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius and Narcissa go to the Ministry. Harry gets a haircut. Moony joins the party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At some point I will have to stop updating this daily, as I'll reach the chapters I haven't quite finished writing, but there are still a few to go before I reach that point.

“I’ve written to Moony.” Sirius announced at breakfast the next morning. “If I’m going to the Ministry today, I needed him to know everything first. Just in case.”

“Sirius, you’ll be fine. Me and mother will be with you. And when we all get back here this evening, Harry will be waiting with the mini duo.” Draco reassured.

“Draco… you shouldn’t come with us. It’s not safe. If anyone from the Ministry finds out that you’re from the future, they will lock you up in the department of Mysteries before you even have a chance to blink.” Narcissa said, looking both grateful and worried about the teenage version of her son. 

“I don’t want you to be by yourself, Mother.” Narcissa still had several obvious bruises but was moving easier today. It would take a few more days of potions before she was fully healed, but that would play in their favour today. Looking every inch the battered wife would definitely help their case against Lucius. Seeing her still like this made Draco feel very protective of his mother, however.

“Cousin Sirius will be with me. We will go and sort out his little mess out first. Him being Head of our family and the lack of the Dark Mark on his arm will mean that shouldn’t take too long. He shouldn’t even need to be given Veritiserum. Then I can tell them about Lucius. It will be fine.”

“Draco. Remember, your mother is strong. She can do this.” Harry said, and put his hand on Draco’s knee under the table and squeezed gently. Draco looked at him and smiled. “Come on, we can take the little us’ to the park or into town to do some shopping. Maybe we can even try and get me a haircut. Some new glasses too if you’re good. I know how much you want that.” Harry didn’t want Draco to spend the day pacing round the flat in anxiety, as he no doubt would if left to his own devices. He really did not fancy another shopping trip with Draco, but if that was what was needed to distract him, then Harry would do it.

“Fine Harry. Okay, Mother. Sirius, you look after her or else. I don’t care what else happens today, you get her back here safe.” Draco glared at Sirius, although it was a very different glare than the one that had plagued that first day of mistrust. 

“I will Cousin.” Sirius answered, with complete sincerity. The six of them were a family now. Despite the short amount of time they’d all spent around each other, they would protect each other with their lives going forward.

_____________

The four of them, two teens and two babies, were sat in the café between the Regent arcade and Cavendish house. Little Draco was sat on Harry’s lap, whilst little Harry was with Draco. For some reason mini-Draco had quickly become incredibly attached to Harry, whilst Draco was clearly little Harry’s favourite. They’d spent the morning wandering around shops and buying whatever Draco took a fancy to. Draco had even managed to make sure Harry made good on his promises of the morning, and Harry was now sporting a new haircut. Harry still thought Eighties fashion was weird but Draco had eagerly embraced it, and the style he’d chosen for Harry suited him. Strangely enough, his slightly wild hair lent itself to what was considered fashion right now. Harry didn’t mind the music so much though – as long as they stuck to the muggle stuff. It seemed wizarding music was pretty awful no matter what era. Or at least he thought most of it was okay. The Birdie song had been on the radio the other day and Sirius had then proceeded to torture all of them by singing it over and over to the babies. They didn’t seem to mind it, little Harry had in fact just giggled at his Pafoo’s antics. But older Harry and Draco had seriously considered murdering Sirius before the day was out. There were also a couple of pairs of glasses being made for him that would be ready in a few weeks. Harry was definitely looking forward to getting those. His prescription hadn’t been updated since he’d gone to Hogwarts and the Dursley’s no longer had his school breathing down their necks about getting his eyes tested. Draco had also insisted that he not just pick from the NHS frames, as he’d always done before – heaven forbid the Dursleys pay anything for his glasses – so his new glasses were going to be a lot nicer than his current ones.

“Aren’t you cute?” An old woman stopping at their table said, looking down at the two babies. “You look so similar. Are they your brothers?”

“Yes.” Draco answered quickly. Harry supposed it was probably the best explanation. They certainly weren’t old enough to be the boys’ fathers. Or at least Harry certainly didn’t feel old enough for that to be the case, even if it was just about physically possible. “Our mothers have gone down to London for the day so we’re looking after our little siblings.”

“Nice to see such fine young men acting so responsibly. I shall leave you to your lunch.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Harry and Draco watched as the woman tottered away.

“That was odd.” Harry said.

“Yeah, well who can resist these two cuties.” Little Harry was currently trying to hand little Draco a piece of drooled on and half chewed cucumber that Draco had given him from out of his sandwich. Little Draco didn’t look impressed.

“You don’t think she was a witch and recognised little Harry, do you?”

“No. She would have said something. I’m sure.”

“We should go anyway. Just in case.”

“Okay.” Draco replied. “It’s nearly nap time anyway. Come on little monsters. Let’s get back home. Hopefully Mother and Siri won’t be too long.”

Back at the flat they got the two boys changed and into their cot for a nap. They were still refusing to sleep separated. Draco set up the monitoring charm his mother had shown him, and they headed to the living room, collapsing on the sofa.

“I’m worried about Siri and your Mother. I wish we could have gone with them.”

“I know. I do to. But you and they were right this morning. We can’t go anywhere near the Ministry. At least not until we have proper identities in this time.”

“How do we do that?”

“Well, you could probably sort it now, but it’s best if I wait until my Father is safely locked away. Gringotts should be able to help. Like they did when we sorted out the estates and finances. We just need to come up with names and a story. They’ll sort out the paperwork.”

Harry couldn’t believe how useful the Goblins at the bank could be. He’d never had much interaction with them in his previous life. In fact, he’d only actually been to the bank before his first year. Even in third year, when he’d spent weeks in the alley, he hadn’t been. Someone else had always somehow ended up dealing with it for him and either buying his stuff, or giving him the gold to do so himself. He didn’t even have his vault key. Hagrid had had it that first year, and hadn’t given it to him after they were done. He guessed Dumbledore must have been keeping it and dishing it out to whoever was tasked with assisting Harry that summer. It didn’t seem fair somehow, especially with the greater understanding of how things worked in the wizarding world that Draco was slowly but surely teaching him.

“So we wait until your father is sentenced.”

“Yup.”

“What stories and names should we use?”

“I was thinking I could be Orion Draconis Abraxus Malfoy. Illegitimate son of Abraxus Malfoy and Lucius Malfoy’s half-bother. It’s why I want to wait till I can take over as head of the family. It gives me an excuse to come out of the woodwork. My Grandfather is dead and can’t dispute it, and no one will be able to question me being the head of the Malfoy family, once Gringotts has accepted me.”

“Makes sense. Does that mean I have to start calling you Orion then?”

“Merlin no. Going by my middle name isn’t that unusual in certain circles.”

“Won’t they think it’s odd that you and your ‘nephew’ are called the same thing?”

“It’s an old family name. It happens.”

“I though the star thing was a Black tradition, not a Malfoy one.”

“I think you’re forgetting how horribly inbred my family is. Mother and Father are hardly the first Black and Malfoy marriage.”

“Your family are weird.”

“You count Sirius as your family. He’s not exactly normal.”

“Well he is literally part of your family.” Harry snorted and shoved at Draco playfully. “I always thought some of his behaviour was because of Azkaban, but it seems he was just odd all along.”

“His maturity probably stagnated at the age he currently is. And I do have another reason for going with the Black naming tradition, but it’s a fairly horrible idea and I want to discuss it with Mother first.”

“You’ll explain it to me at some point though?” Harry didn’t like the idea of Draco hiding anything from him.

“Yes Harry, I promise I won’t keep this, or anything else a secret from you. I just need mother’s approval before I go down this route. Sirius’ too, eventually, but I’ll tell you before I go to him. Anyway, you have any ideas about what you want to use as your name?”

“If you think it’s best to talk to your mother first, I’ll accept it.” Harry conceded. “And I was thinking about going with Henry. At least it won’t seem too odd if people call me Harry then.”

“You should probably be an illegitimate child of your grandfather’s, too. You can have heard about your ‘brother’s’ death and decided to come and claim the house of Potter. You need a middle name though.”

“How about Charlus?” Sirius said, strolling into the room with a wolfish grin on his face and Narcissa at his side. “It’s a family name and I hardly think you want to go by your grandfather’s name. Fleamont is a ridiculous name.”

“Sirius!” Harry exclaimed, hardly hearing what Sirius said, at the same time as Draco shouted “Mother” and threw himself at the woman.

“Are the boys asleep?” Narcissa asked, when Draco finally released her.

“They went down for a nap just over an hour ago. They’ll probably wake soon. How did it go?” Draco replied.

“I’m a free man. All very straightforward. The aurors are now looking for Wormtail instead of me. They apologised for the inconvenience. The whole story will be in the prophet tomorrow. Probably accompanied by that picture of you, Harry.” The picture of Harry that seemed to be almost constantly in the prophet was a bit of a sore point for Harry, Draco and Sirius. It could only have been taken and given to the press with Dumbledore’s blessing. He was the only one who had had the opportunity to do so after little Harry had been attacked. The lightning bolt cut was prominent on the baby’s head and still bleeding in the photo. It made them all a little sick.

“That’s great Siri. And Narcissa?” Harry said, skirting over the photo debate, which had been talked about far too often. It wasn’t like they could even do anything without tipping their hands. And he didn’t need Narcissa focussing and fussing over it too, although he doubted he’d escape that, once she realised the implications of the photo.

“They’ve set a trial date for the 3rd of December. They think my testimony will be enough to convict him.” Her voice was a little shaky, but her mouth was set in a determined thin line. 

“That’s wonderful.”

“I… I can’t believe it’s really happening. That in a month I’ll never have to see him again. Never have to worry about him hurting Draco.”

“He’s never hurting my Draco again. Nor little Draco.” Harry said, reaching to take Draco’s hand. The two adults gave each other a knowing look. Sirius knew, and Narcissa had quickly guessed, that the older Harry and Draco were sharing a bed, just like the little two. Neither of them really minded. Both boys were almost of age by their own timelines, and they’d been through too much for either Sirius or Narcissa to object to whatever comfort they could get.

“Oh, Siri. An owl came whilst you were gone. It left a letter and flew straight off. I think it’s from Remus.” Harry said, to his godfather, changing the subject to try to lighten the mood.

Sirius grabbed the letter and quickly read it. 

“He wants to see me. He’s back at our flat. He was surprised I wasn’t there and that there was a pile of stuff missing. He’s complaining that I took his favourite shirt.” Sirius added the last sentence with a small chuckle.

“Sorry. We didn’t realise you didn’t live alone and just grabbed a pile of clothes when we left. Now the aurors aren’t out hunting for you, you can go back there.” Harry apologised. 

“I do want to see Moony….”

“What is it Siri?” Harry asked, sensing his godfather’s hesitation.

“I want to stay living with you. I want to be there for little Harry. And I want Moony here.” 

Harry knew that at least some of Sirius’ concern wasn’t to do with Moony betraying them about little Harry, but not everything. “Do you have somewhere else you can stay with him at his time of the month?” He inquired, bringing up the werewolf issue as casually as he could manage. Trying to make sure that Sirius understood it wasn’t an issue bar the few days of the month he was dangerous.

“Yes.” Sirius said with a sigh of relief. He hadn’t mentioned that Remus was a werewolf to the two boys, and wasn’t sure that they knew, but Harry had made it obvious that they did, and that it wouldn’t be a problem.

“Do you think he’ll tell Dumbledore about us?” Draco added.

“No. I’d trust Moony with my life.”

Harry and Draco looked at each other. They’d discussed this before, but it had been forgotten amongst everything else that had happened. Harry sighed. He knew Draco was concerned, and for good reason, still he spoke up in favour of Remus.

“The more people that know the more dangerous it is for us, but the Remus I knew wouldn’t do anything to hurt me on purpose. I suppose the same is true of little Harry.” This was to Draco, to try and soothe any anxiety he had about adding another person who could potentially betray them to either the Ministry or to Dumbledore.

“You’re pack to him. I’m surprised he didn’t hunt you down when you were little in your original timeline and take you in himself. I’m guessing with me in prison and James dead he…”

“I think he found it hard.” Harry comforted, memories of the haggard professor in his mind from the train to Hogwarts from his third year prominent in his mind.

“Well he doesn’t have to find it so hard this time.” Narcissa said, firmly. It seemed now she was outside of Lucius’ control Narcissa wanted to mother everyone. Harry was glad Narcissa was supportive though. If she thought it was okay, Draco would be less worried about accepting the situation. “Go get him Siri and we’ll be waiting back here. Tawly.” The elf popped up in front of her. “Can you make a celebratory dinner for tonight. We’ll be having a guest coming.”

“Right away, Missus Narcissa.” Tawly replied and popped back out. Harry had told the elf to treat all of the adults currently sleeping here as if they were family. 

“Harry… I think it might be easier to explain all of this if you come with me. Moony will know right away who you are.”

“Then I’m coming too.” Draco said firmly.

“I’m not sure…” Sirius started.

“I don’t care whether or not you think Lupin will trust me. If Harry’s going, I’m going with him.”

Draco wrapped his arms around Harry in what had become a familiar and comforting gesture over the last week.

“Draco’s coming with us. We’re safest together.” Harry said, leaning back into Draco’s arms.

“Okay. We’ll head straight there now. Cissa, will you be okay with the little ones?”

“Of course, cousin.”

______________

They apparated from the roof garden of the flat straight into the tiny London one. Remus leapt up in shock at their arrival. He looked a little worse for wear, grief clearly taking its toll, but a hundred times better than Harry had ever seen him before. He looked so young, just like Sirius did. It was hard to remember sometimes that the adults that Harry had met when he was 13 were only 21 and 22 right now – although Sirius’ birthday had passed them by without them properly celebrating. Sirius had loved the LP of Queen’s greatest hits Harry had got him though. Harry had remembered Sirius talking about how he had been planning to get the album for his 22nd birthday in the future, joking about Azkaban’s lack of a record player. It was even worse imagining his parents now though. He’d always imagined them being Remus and Sirius’ age, but they had been in their 30s when he had met them. His parents had only been 21 when they’d died. They were only a few years older than he was. They were the same age as Sirius and Remus, just his brain had aged them alongside their friends. It was a little shocking to really picture the fact that they had barely been adults when they had died.

“Siri…. Oh god… Siri… I’m so sorry for thinking… I….”

“Shhh… It’s okay Moony. I’ve got you. I’m here. We should have told you we changed secret keepers at the last minute. We should never have bloody changed to the rat in the first place.” Sirius said and wrapped Remus up in his arms. It wasn’t until that moment that Harry realised exactly what type of relationship the two men had. Harry hadn’t suspected anything like that back in his time. But then, he’d been 15 when he’d last seen them together, and maybe they had never gotten back together after Siri had escaped Azkaban.

“Siri… I can smell… Harry…? Where is he? Do you have him… Dumbledore… he told me he’d placed him somewhere safe.”

“It’s… complicated… But this is Harry…” Sirius said, gesturing towards Harry. Remus looked startled to see Harry and Draco stood there. He hadn’t noticed them appear with Sirius. His expression changed from startled to one that looked slightly fearful when he took in the sight of Harry properly.

“No… It can’t be… He smells like Harry… But…”

“As Siri said, it’s complicated. But I’m Harry… Just… I’m another Harry… Little Harry is at home. He’s safe.” Harry tried to reassure his old professor. 

“Harry…? You look just like James.”

“So I’ve been told.” And told and told, Harry thought to himself. It was one of the first truthful things he’d ever learnt about his parents – he didn’t count anything the Dursley’s had told him. He looked like his father, but he had his mother’s eyes. “Siri thought I was James when I found him.”

“But how… And who’s that with you… He looks like…” Remus gave Draco a wary look. Draco looked far too much like his father.

“This is Draco…” Harry said and turned to look at Draco, who was stood behind him. It was then noticed that Draco was doubled over in silent hysterics. 

“I could imagine my cousin as a punk. But Professor Lupin.” Draco gasped. Harry looked up at Remus and the hilarity of the situation hit him too. His straight-laced professor, who he remembered dressing much older than he was, was wearing a pair of cropped trousers with ripped hems, an open weave turquoise jumper with what looked like purposeful holes and a pair of old, scuffed doc martins. He even had brightly coloured eye makeup on, or though it looked more than a little smudged. As if it was still left there as a remnant from whatever Remus had been doing the night before. He was amazed that he hadn’t noticed exactly what Moony had been wearing before. But it was all he could think about now.

“It’s not punk. It’s New Wave.” Sirius insisted, tugging at his t-shirt to emphasise the point.

“Don’t kid yourself. You Sirius, are still stuck in the 70s. That outfit is definitely Punk. You’re right about my clothes though.” Remus retorted, although not really understanding quite why his clothing was so funny. “And is this really the time for this?”

“Sorry Siri, Moony.” Harry replied, forcing his laughter back down and trying to regain control of himself. “Moony. Draco’s like me. He’s complicated too. We can explain everything here, or we can do it back at our place. But before we tell you anything you have to swear that you won’t tell anyone about us or about where little Harry is.” Harry insisted. “It isn’t safe for people to know.”

“But…”

“Moony. I promise this isn’t a trick. I have no clue how they got here. Neither do they. But it’s really Harry, and… well the two of them saved me from making an incredibly foolish mistake when they met me… If it wasn’t for them… if what they’ve told me is true, I’d be spending the next 12 years in Azkaban for Wormtail’s crimes.” Sirius said.

“I… I don’t know… I… my nose is telling me one thing, but it just can’t be real…” Lupin’s face held all the hallmarks of complete bewilderment. He seemed to be taking the revelation a bit better than Sirius had though, in that they hadn’t been threatened yet, so Harry was hopeful that he would quickly accept them.

“I know Moony. I held them at wand point for a fair while when they found me. But I went to Gringotts with them and confirmed. This is our Harry. This is James and Lily’s Harry. We’re staying at the Cheltenham place… you know the one we used to sneak out of Hogwarts and use when the horse racing was on. Only Harry could have got us in there. Just trust me Moony. When we get there you can see little Harry. He’s there at the moment with my cousin and little Draco.”

“Little Draco?”

“As Harry said, I’m complicated too. I have my own baby doppelganger as well.” Draco drawled. He’d manage to compose himself too, and now looked every inch the perfect pureblood heir he was raised to be.

“So you are…?”

“Draco Lucius Malfoy… Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy’s son. And yes, I know I should also less than 18 months old, just like Harry here. We have a confusing time in our household with names.”

“So there are two…”

“Two Harry’s and two Draco’s.” Sirius confirmed with a wide smile. Harry’s fun-loving godfather was enjoying this a little too much.

“And you have Narcissa Malfoy staying with you?” Remus inquired, cautiously. 

“We rescued Mother from the Manor when Father was arrested. She’s going to speak at his trial. He’s not going to sneak his way out of it this time.” Draco clarified.

“Your cousin Narcissa, Siri? And you’re trusting her with Harry?”

“My Mother is an amazing woman and would never do anything to hurt little Harry.” Draco snapped and Harry wrapped his arms around the blond.

“Hey, it’s okay Draco… he doesn’t mean anything by it. He just doesn’t know your mother. He’ll love her when he meets her. Just like I did when I met her properly.” Harry whispered into Draco’s ear. Draco nuzzled into Harry’s hair. The two men looked at the two boys. Remus looked over to Sirius with a raised eyebrow and Sirius shrugged in reply. He knew the two boys were together, or at least he assumed so. He guessed they had been for a little while from the way they interacted with each other, despite the fact that everything they said of their past in the future went against that assumption.

“Come on Moony. Come back with us to Cheltenham. Come see for yourself that little Harry is okay. Come meet my cousin… She’s very different when you get to know her properly. She’s like she was when we were little. She’s had a tough time of it the last few years.”

“I’m not sure whether I trust this whole situation. It doesn’t feel real… but I’ll trust you… for now.”

“And Dumbledore… you won’t tell him about where little Harry is… No matter what happens.”

“I…”

“Moony… He left little Harry on Lily’s sister’s doorstep in the middle of the night. With nothing but a note. We can’t trust him.”

“As long as you’re telling the truth, Siri, I won’t tell Dumbledore. I swear it.”

________________

“Hawwy.” Little Draco shouted when the four of them came downstairs and he spotted Harry. Harry rushed forward and scooped the little blond toddler up into his arms. Draco had become much more confident in the last week, although he was still quieter than little Harry.

“Dway…” Came a similar demand from little Harry. Draco responded the same and picked up the dark-haired toddler. Little Draco had become Dwayco whilst older Draco was Dray to little Harry. They didn’t know why he’d chosen to do that, but were happy to go with whatever worked. Though Draco wasn’t happy to accept anyone else calling him Dray. The radio started playing “Every little thing She Does is Magic”. It had Harry and Draco both in giggles, and dancing round the room with the very happy babies in their arms.

“Don’t you love that we’re each other’s favourites.” Harry said. Smiling at Draco.

“That’s just…” Remus said looking between the toddlers and teenagers.

“I know… It’s pretty bizarre. But you can smell it right. I could the first time I transformed into Padfoot.”

“They’re the same… but… not. Are you going to explain how this is possible now?”

“Draco and I are from the future.” Harry stated, stopping his dancing with baby Draco, and coming to a standstill in front of Sirius and Remus. He said it as if this was something people heard every day.

“You’re what?!” Remus said stunned. Sirius grinned like it was all a big joke. Even though a week ago he was in exactly the same state as Remus was now.

“Just over 15 years in the future. From April 1997. We have no idea how or why, but we arrived in a park in the middle of the night just over a week ago. The night mum and dad were killed by Voldemort.” Harry replied. “Draco thinks we probably got here about the exact same time that happened.”

“It’s impossible. How?”

“We don’t know. We were in the room of requirement and then there was a light, and we woke up in 1981. And I know we probably shouldn’t have, but we decided to change some things. The future wasn’t all that great to be honest.” Draco said. He’d come to stand next to Harry. The babies were wriggling in their arms slightly trying to poke at each other. Harry and Draco shifted a little so the two little ones could reach each other better. It would be much easier to talk when the babies were entertaining themselves.

“Changed… how?”

“First we stopped Siri from confronting Wormtail and getting arrested. Then we rescued little Harry from the Dursley’s doorstep.”

“And we got my Mother out of the Manor along with little Draco. And now she’s going to make sure my Father gets what he deserves.”

Remus looked at them in wide eyed horror. He was clearly having the same thoughts that Harry and Draco had that first day, before they decided that they didn’t care. “Is it safe…? Time travel is incredibly dangerous… You could…”

“We know. But we didn’t travel in time on purpose and once we were here Harry couldn’t not rescue little Harry. And I wasn’t going to let mother suffer again under Father. Once we’d decided to do that much it wasn’t too much of a stretch to decide to stop Sirius from being a reckless idiot and getting arrested.” Sirius looked offended at Draco’s words, but then shrugged and accepted the mild insult. It wasn’t like it wasn’t true.

“Voldemort came back when I was 14. He was gaining power when we left. We have no idea how the war would have ended, but even if we knew he’d be defeated with how things were, there is no way either of us could have done anything differently to how we have once we were given the chance.”

“I for one think the boys have been very brave.” Narcissa said, from her seat on the sofa. “Them just being back here was likely to change things and given they have no clue how they got here; they also have no clue as to how they’d even go back.”

“I’m never going back there.” Draco said vehemently.

“Me neither. I don’t want to be the sodding boy who lived. I want to stay here with little Harry and little Draco and see them have the chances we weren’t given because of who we both were.”

“I see…” Remus replied. Again looking between the two teenagers and their toddler selves. There was definitely something he was missing.

“I don’t see the problem. As long as no one finds out, then it should be fine. Besides, I’m definitely happy not being in Azkaban.” Sirius tried to reassure his old friend. He knew where this conversation was likely to end up. The same place it had ended up when he had first been confronted with the two teenagers’ distrust of the man he’d always considered as one of the greatest men in the wizarding world.

“Harry, Draco… I…” Remus looked between them. His mind in turmoil. Sirius watched and saw the moment when he realised, he’d failed to allow Harry to avoid going through his whole sorry childhood again.

“I was raised in a cupboard under the stairs.” Harry said through his teeth, cutting Remus off, but hating that he was having to give this explanation again to get through to someone why exactly him and Draco were so adamant about not even attempting to not meddle, or trying to get back to where they were supposed to be. “I was starved and beaten, and I knew nothing of magic. And it turns out at least the last part of it was on Dumbledore’s orders. I didn’t even know my name until I was 5 and they were forced to send me to school. Little Harry is not going to grow up like I did. We’ve already changed time. Even if we went back this second, unless you send Narcissa back to Manor and Lucius’ delightful temper, and send Sirius to Azkaban, and little Harry back to that doorstep to grow up unloved, then the future we came from doesn’t exist anymore.”

“Harry…”

But Harry couldn’t hear what was said next as the tears started falling down his face and he cuddled into little Draco. Then there was a larger pair of arms wrapped around both him and the toddler. Draco had obviously given little Harry over to one of the others. 

“We’re not going back, Harry. I won’t let anyone send us back. We’re staying here. We will be new people. We will protect little Harry and little Draco. They won’t become us. They’ll grow up best friends. When he’s eleven little Draco won’t be an arrogant prat on the train.”

“And little Harry will understand that when people offer their hands in friendship, even if they go about it all the wrong way, that they are really just nervous.”

“And that they didn’t like that Ronald Weasley had just snorted at their family name and insulted them. And Little Draco will know better than to get defensive if that happens and insult him back.”

“And little Harry won’t automatically distrust all Slytherins just because of their house. He won’t be begging the sorting hat to send him anywhere else. He will know better than I did.”

“And little Draco won’t start insulting all of the other houses and spouting out rubbish just because that’s what his father said.”

“And no one will end up crying in a bathroom petrified for their life.”

“He won’t ever be forced to be branded by a monster.”

One of the other’s coughed and pulled the two teenagers from their conversation. 

“Sorry… Sometimes it’s all a bit much.” Harry said. “Look I’ve gotten both Dracos all covered in my tears. How about we go get you washed at changed little Draco?”

“Hawwy sad.”

“Not anymore, munchkin.” Harry said, forcing a smile onto his face, so as not to worry the baby. Draco was very sensitive to other people’s moods, and would be liable to kick off if Harry didn’t at least try and pretend to be okay.

“Why don’t I take little Draco?” Siri said, holding his arms out to the toddler. “You two look like you could do with a little time alone. Me and Cissa can explain everything else to Remus. We’re not going to send either of you anywhere.” Sirius placed a comforting hand on Harry’s shoulder.

________________

“They’re both pretty messed up.” Remus said. Harry and Draco had gone to one of the bedrooms. The two toddlers were in a playpen in the living room, whilst Remus, Sirius and Narcissa sat and watched them.

“I think so. They’ve told us some things. But I doubt we’ll ever hear the full story.” Narcissa replied.

“They found me less than 12 hours after they arrived. I know you can see how thin they both are, but they were even worse then. Draco in particular. They wake up screaming most nights. Whatever happens in the future it’s not good for either of them.”

“And what Harry said… about the cupboard and… the rest of what he said.” Remus could quite bring himself to say what Harry had told them he’d been put through out loud.

“I don’t know. I believe him though. He knew where I would be that morning. I didn’t even know where I’d be. I was chasing down Wormtail. And he knew where and when Dumbledore was leaving little Harry.”

“And Draco… Harry sounds like he had a pretty abysmal childhood, but I can’t imagine the child of Lucius Malfoy being anything but a spoiled rich kid… No offence Narcissa.”

“None taken. And from what I can tell, he absolutely was a spoiled rich kid. But… I always thought I’d be able to protect Draco from Lucius’ temper. Hide the things he does…did… to me. From what Draco says, he always knew. When he came to the Manor, to get me and little Draco, he showed me his left arm and told me in no uncertain terms what the future would hold for little Draco if I didn’t get him out of there.”

“His left… you don’t mean…?”

“Exactly. Draco has the Dark Mark. He hasn’t told me the exact circumstances, but I know it wasn’t taking willingly. From what I can imply it was either he take it, or watch me be tortured and killed before being tortured and killed himself. He’s not even 17 yet.”

“Fuck… I need a drink.” Remus said. The thought of a sixteen-year-old being forced to be branded like that under threat of torture was too much for him..

“Tawly.” Sirius called. The elf appeared with a pop. “Can you get a glass of firewhiskey for my friend. Cissa?”

“I’m fine. You can have one though. I’ll be on babysitting duty tonight.”

“One for me as well then, Tawly.”

The elf disappeared and was back in a second with two glasses full of amber liquid. 

“So what happens now?” Remus asked, after he’d taken a long gulp of the burning drink.

“We support them. We love and bring up little Harry and little Draco. We help make sure no one finds out about who Draco and Harry really are. They have some plans to create new identities soon.” Narcissa stated.

“When?”

“I think as soon as Lucius has been convicted.”

“And you can be sure that will happen?”

“With the way Crouch is going after Death Eaters. Yes. He practically leapt for joy when I told him I’d testify against my husband.”

“Crouch… leap for joy..?” Sirius snorted.

“Well no. But he almost smiled which amounts to the same thing as far as he’s concerned.”

“Oh cousin. I so much prefer you like this.”

“I prefer me like this too. I think I’d forgotten who I was with Lucius. I can’t believe it took my 16-year-old son to snap me out of it.”

“He’s an amazing kid. You clearly raise him well.”

“I just wish I could have been stronger for him.”

“You’re being strong for him now. And for little Draco.”

__________________

Harry and Draco were curled up together on top of the covers in Draco’s room.

“Draco…”

“Yes, my Harry.”

“Did you mean it when you said you wouldn’t let anyone send us back?”

“Of course I did.”

“But what if they try?”

“Then we run. We take little Draco and little Harry and we run away together.”

“But…”

“No buts Harry… They are us. We wouldn’t abandon them. Besides. You’re little Draco’s favourite. He’d be devastated without you.”

“And you’re little Harry’s favourite.”

“Yes.” Draco was stroking the side of Harry’s face and they were so close.

“Draco… You promise you won’t ever abandon me either.”

“Never. It’s you and me against the world Harry. It’s not only little Draco who’d be devastated if they didn’t have you around.”

Draco pressed his forehead to Harry’s. Their noses were touching.

“I’m your Harry.”

“Always.”

“And you’re my Draco.”

Their mouths met. The kisses Harry could remember with Cho were nothing like this. He thought briefly about Ginny. He thought he’d fancied her before himself and Draco got swept back into the past. He knew that they would never have had this intensity. Even when he and Draco had hated each other they had had intensity. Now, trapped together in this impossible situation, the intensity had remained. They clung to each other. They were each other’s lifeline. The only other person who could really understand. They’d been two sides of a coin. Forced to fight in a war. How had no one stepped in? Told someone they were children. Harry tried to imagine someone forcing little Harry to face Voldemort over and over. He’d fought the man, or some version of him, every year but one since he’d turned eleven. However confusing being back in 1981 was, he wasn’t alone. He had Draco. They broke apart panting. Draco rolled onto his back and pulled Harry onto his chest. They were both asleep within minutes and for the first night in a long time, the house wasn’t disturbed by either of the two teenagers screaming with nightmares of a future that would never happen.

_______________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wanted to try and emphasise Sirius and Moony's ages, and make them feel a bit more like young adults, hence the clothing talk. I'm not sure I've got it completely correct, as I have no experience of 80s fashion, but I hope what I've managed works well enough. I have had to do a ridiculous amount of reseach into things about the 80s to get this fic the way I want it.  
> As for Sirius' birthday present. I can just imagine him wanting the album when it was released, but given he was arrested and thrown in Azkaban less than a week after it was released he missed out. I imagine that he expected James and Lily to give it to him for his birthday, which is why he didn't just buy it himself straight away.


End file.
